The Rise of the Rainbow
by ilovewarriorcats123
Summary: The battle has been won, but the war has only just begun... / Sassafrasstar's kits are destined to turn over the war ahead of them. Along with their friends Harepaw and Sweetpaw, they must figure out all of the secrets that have not been revealed yet. Hearts will be broken, prophecies will be fulfilled, and new and old enemies will be defeated. / Sequel to TMotM.
1. Allegiances 1

**Hello readers! Welcome to _The Rise of the Rainbow_ (TRotR). If you have not read the prequel, TMotM, I recommend reading that beforehand. You will be confused if you don't read that beforehand.**

 **Before starting, there are some things that need to be taken note of:**

\- **This story is rated 'T'. There will be some mild to moderate swearing and insulting. As a rule, I stay away from cursing, but keep in mind that there will be some strong language.**

\- **In this story, there is the mention of rape. It doesn't actually happen, but it is mentioned plenty of times. Don't read this if you don't like rape.**

 **-** **May contain spoilers for Power of Three and Omen of the Stars series.**

 **If you didn't already know, I take story ratings very seriously. In addition, I ask that all reviewers are respectful of each other. Please abstain from using profanity in your reviews.**

 **Since we're done with that, let's move on to the Allegiances.**

* * *

 **ALLEGIANCES I**

* * *

RIVERCLAN

 **LEADER:**

SASSAFRASSTAR: light gray she-cat with dark gray patches, white tail-tip, and deep blue eyes.

 **DEPUTY:**

GOLDENSUN: golden-brown tabby tom with blind amber eyes.

 **MEDICINE CAT:**

BLUEMIST: pale, blue-gray tom with a white underbelly, paws, and tail-tip, and blue eyes.

 **WARRIORS:**

LIGHTSKY: cream-colored tom with copper eyes.

*BADGERFOOT: he has a dark brown, black, and white marbled pelt. He is large and has powerful hind legs and massive paws. His eyes are dark green. Badgerfoot has a nick in his ear. _**(submitted by No One)**_

FROSTHEART: white she-cat with yellow eyes.

 _APPRENTICE, HAREPAW_

*CARPFLIGHT: light brown tabby she-cat with green eyes and long whiskers. _**(submitted by Okatu Fernsneeze)**_

SNAKESCALE: brown-and-cream tom with brown eyes.

 _APPRENTICE, HERONPAW_

BRIGHTLEAF: ginger she-cat with amber eyes.

 _APPRENTICE, GREENPAW_

DUSKPELT: brown tom with amber eyes.

VOLEWHISKER: light gray tom with green eyes.

*SPOTTEDSKY: brown tortoiseshell with light brown muzzle, chest, tail-tip, and paws. _**(submitted by Sparklecake3000)**_

RUSHINGWATER: gray tabby tom with copper eyes.

MOSSFOOT: greenish-brown tom with copper eyes.

DUSTYFUR: light brown tom with amber eyes.

WILDWATER: black-and-white tom with orange-amber eyes, originally ThunderClan.

 _APPRENTICE, SWEETPAW_

SILVERMOON: small, black she-cat with a white chest, tail-tip, and paws, silver and gray stripes on her pelt, and ice blue eyes.

LEOPARDHEART: dappled, pale golden she-cat with green eyes.

*BRINDLEFIRE: light brown tabby she-cat with a white underbelly and paws, and amber eyes. _**(submitted by xEverlastingDarknessx)**_

 **APPRENTICES:**

GREENPAW: greenish-brown tom with green eyes.

HERONPAW: huge, dark brown tom with amber eyes.

HAREPAW: golden-brown tabby tom with white patches and blue eyes. He not very sure of himself. Similarly to Whitepaw, he is very clumsy. Harepaw finds it difficult to stand up for himself when he is being bullied. Foster son of Goldensun and Silvermoon. Aged 9 moons.

SWEETPAW: beautiful tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat with bright blue eyes. She is very cheerful, but also naïve. She is easily excited or insulted, and can go from bright and happy to grumpy in a mere few seconds. When given the opportunity, Sweetpaw will talk nonstop. Foster daughter of Goldensun and Silvermoon. Aged 9 moons.

 **QUEENS:**

DAPPLEDFLOWER: dappled gray she-cat with amber eyes.

 _MOTHER TO MISTKIT, SNAKESCALE'S KIT_

BRIARTHORN: small dark brown she-cat with green eyes.

 _MOTHER TO RAVENKIT, CROWCLAW'S KIT_

SASSAFRASSTAR: light gray she-cat with dark gray patches, white tail-tip, and deep blue eyes.

 _MOTHER TO FLAMEKIT, SANDFUR'S KIT, AND FOSTER MOTHER TO SWANKIT, WHITEKIT, AND WATERKIT_

 **KITTENS:**

FLAMEKIT: gorgeous, black-and-gold tom with a white chest and orange eyes. He doesn't take teasing very well, and is very reclusive. Son of Sandfur and Sassafrasstar. Aged 6 moons.

SWANKIT: delicate, white she-cat with amber eyes. She is snappy and rude sometimes and doesn't take teasing very well. But she is brave and strong, always ready to protect her siblings. Daughter of Purpleflower and Whitestar. Aged 6 moons.

WHITEKIT: albino, white tom with very pale blue eyes. He is very shy and nervous, and always wants to please others. Whitekit is continuously apologizing and is very clumsy. Son of Purpleflower and Whitestar. Aged 6 moons.

WATERKIT: light gray-and-white tom with sea green eyes. Similarly to Silvermoon, Waterpaw likes to disregard rules (but not to the same extent as her). He is a very cheerful cat, and loyal and honest. Son of Purpleflower and Whitestar. Aged 6 moons.

*MISTKIT: silvery-gray tabby she-kit with pale green eyes and a bushy tail. _**(submitted by Slytherin Buttercat)**_

*RAVENKIT: black-and-white tom-kit with a sleek, long, fluffy tail, one eye green, and one eye amber. _**(submitted by XxBloodoftheMoonxX)**_

ELDERS:

FERNSTRIPE: pale gray tabby she-cat with pale green eyes.

FROSTYPOOL: white she-cat with copper eyes.

* * *

WINDCLAN

 **LEADER:**

WHITESTAR: white tom with blue eyes.

 **DEPUTY:**

*SUNSTREAK: golden she-cat with a white underbelly and tail-tip, darker golden stripes, and bright blue eyes. _**(submitted by No One)**_

 **MEDICINE CAT:**

MAPLELEAF: tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat with brown eyes.

 **WARRIORS:**

SWIFTRUNNER: black-and-white tom with copper eyes.

 _APPRENTICE, RUNNINGPAW_

GREENFERN: greenish-brown she-cat with green eyes.

 _APPRENTICE, YELLOWPAW_

JAGUARFOOT: light brown tom with black spots and copper eyes.

GRAYWING: gray tom with amber eyes.

WINDFUR: dark gray she-cat with amber eyes.

MOSSYFUR: light brown she-cat with green eyes.

 _APPRENTICE, DARKPAW_

FIREPELT: dark ginger tom with yellow eyes.

FLAMEFOOT: black tom with orange eyes.

REDLIGHT: reddish-brown tom with orange eyes.

 **APPRENTICES:**

*DARKPAW: fluffy black she-cat with a white chest and tail-tip with green eyes. _**(submitted by Okatu Fernsneeze)**_

*YELLOWPAW: yellowy-gray tom with sun-yellow eyes. _**(submitted by Nightlight)**_

RUNNINGPAW: gray tom with amber eyes.

 **QUEENS:**

RABBITLEG: small gray she-cat with copper eyes, expecting Redlight's kits.

FLOWERSTEM: light brown she-cat with green eyes, expecting Flamefoot's kits.

 **ELDERS:**

BOULDERFOOT: black tom with amber eyes.

TIMBERFUR: light brown tabby tom with amber eyes.

* * *

THUNDERCLAN

 **LEADER:**

*CROWSTAR: strong and sleek ginger tom with brown spots.

 **DEPUTY:**

*GOLDENEAR: ginger tabby she-cat with dark amber eyes. _**(submitted by Snowfall16)**_

 _APPRENTICE, SQUIRRELPAW_

 **MEDICINE CAT:**

OAKLEAF: brown tabby tom with green eyes.

 **WARRIORS:**

GINGERTAIL: ginger she-cat with amber eyes.

EAGLECLAW: pale brown tom with green eyes.

LEAFSPLASH: light brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes.

HARESTEP: light gray tom with copper eyes.

LIGHTLEG: cream-colored tom with amber eyes.

DOENOSE: spotted, light brown she-cat with amber eyes.

STAGLEAP: spotted, light brown tom with green eyes.

FALLINGLEAF: ginger tom with green eyes.

MEADOWGRASS: brown she-cat with copper eyes.

 _APPRENTICE, REDPAW_

ICEFUR: white tom with amber eyes.

 **APPRENTICES:**

*REDPAW: reddish-brown tom with blood-orange eyes. _**(submitted by Nightlight)**_

SQUIRRELPAW: brown-and-white tabby she-cat.

 **QUEENS:**

MORNINGFLOWER: white she-cat with green eyes.

 _MOTHER TO LIONKIT, CROWSTAR'S KIT_

 **KITTENS:**

*LIONKIT: a golden tom with brown ears, paws, neck, and tail-tip. He is larger than most cats, and has bright amber eyes. _**(submitted by Nerdy Fangirl15)**_

 **ELDERS:**

GRAYBREEZE: dark gray tom.

RAINWISH: light gray tom with dark gray paws and muzzle.

* * *

SHADOWCLAN

 **LEADER:**

*DARKSTAR: broad-shouldered, dark tabby tom. _**(submitted by Slytherin Buttercat)**_

 **DEPUTY:**

*LARKFLIGHT: small she-cat with a marbled black-and-white pelt, yellow eyes, a pink nose, a fluffy tail, and long front claws. _**(submitted by No One)**_

 _APPRENTICE, TURTLEPAW_

 **MEDICINE CAT:**

PINEFUR: old gray tom with amber eyes.

 _APPRENTICE, MISTPAW_

 **WARRIORS:**

*SMOKEPELT: mottled dark gray with three white paws, a white chest, and copper eyes. _**(submitted by Snowfall16)**_

*RAINSTORM: gray tabby tom with dark green eyes and white on his muzzle, chest, underbelly, front paw, and tail-tip. _**(submitted by Snowfall16)**_

 _APPRENTICE, ORANGEPAW_

*RABBITTAIL: small tom with a thick, light brown pelt that is speckled with white and dark brown. He has amber eyes. _**(submitted by No One)**_

*SWAMPNOSE: dark brown tom with copper eyes. _**(submitted by Snowfall16)**_

 _APPRENTICE, FRONTPAW_

CROWTALON: dark gray tom with amber eyes.

 _APPRENTICE, TIGERPAW_

ROSELEAF: pinkish-gray she-cat with brown eyes.

 **APPRENTICES:**

MISTPAW: light gray tabby she-cat with a white chest and blue eyes.

TIGERPAW: dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes.

*ORANGEPAW: dark ginger tom with light orange eyes. _**(submitted by Nightlight)**_

FRONTPAW: pale gray tabby tom with green eyes.

TURTLEPAW: tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes.

 **QUEENS:**

*GINGERSPIKE: ginger-and-white tabby with blue eyes. _**(submitted by Snowfall16)**_

 _MOTHER TO RAINSTORM'S KITS, CEDARKIT, FEATHERKIT, AND FOXKIT_

 **KITTENS:**

*CEDARKIT: small ginger tabby tom-kit with white legs, underbelly, and chest, dark green eyes. _**(submitted by Snowfall16)**_

*FEATHERKIT: silver-and-white tabby she-kit with blue eyes. _**(submitted by Snowfall16)**_

*FOXKIT: large, broad-shouldered, ginger-and-white tabby tom-kit with blue eyes. _**(submitted by Snowfall16)**_

* * *

STARCLAN

PINKFLOWER: albino, white she-cat with rare pink eyes and pink starlight on her fur.

WATERKIT: silvery-blue she-cat with big teal eyes and aqua starlight on her fur.

DARKSHADOW: dark gray tom with amber eyes and light gray starlight on his fur.

PURPLEFLOWER: albino, white she-cat with rare violet eyes and purple starlight on her fur.

MIDNIGHTSTAR: black she-cat with a white paw and dark blue eyes, and dark blue starlight on her fur.

WILLOWBRANCH: slender, light gray tabby she-cat with green eyes and olive green starlight on her fur.

EAGLEKIT: handsome, cream-colored tom with a brown underbelly and brown paws, green eyes, and starlight on his fur.

FEATHERHEART: soft-furred, silver tabby she-cat with green eyes.

* * *

DARK FOREST

SANDFUR: cream-colored tom with amber eyes.

ORANGEFOOT: ginger tom with light orange eyes.

FLOWERSTAR: glossy, brown she-cat with amber eyes.

* * *

CATS OUTSIDE THE CLANS

 **THE LEGION:**

LUKE: sand-colored tabby tom with brown eyes, a long tail, and tufted ears and tail. (leader of the Legion)

WILLIE: gray tabby she-cat with blue eyes.

KETTLE: light brown tabby she-cat with blue eyes.

JASPER: brown tom with amber eyes.

 **LONERS:**

*CLOVE: thick-furred, dark brown she-cat with a white chest and underbelly. She has chestnut stripes on her pelt and amber eyes. _**(submitted by No One)**_

*TALON: huge, handsome dark brown tabby tom with thick fur, tan underbelly, chestnut stripes, and green eyes. _**(submitted by No One)**_

* * *

 **Some things that I wanted to say concerning OCs and the storyline:**

\- **If you submitted an OC, you can't expect a major part for your character. I'm sorry, but it doesn't work out. I already have a thousand plotlines going on in this story and I can't fit in a million more plotlines for a bunch of OCs. Keep in mind that at least one OC from each person will make an appearance. Not all of the OCs might appear, but my goal is to fit at least one from every person.**

\- **Remember when I said that SkyClan was going to come to the lake? Unfortunately, that's not happening. I know that plenty of people submitted OCs for SkyClan. If you have an OC there, tell me which Clan you want them in and I can relocate them.**

\- **There is no prologue for this story. I felt that there was no way to make a prologue without giving too much away, so we'll have to make do without.**

\- **Another important thing. For TMotM, I got 102 reviews, which I feel is a huge accomplishment for a first story. Can we make it a bit more for TRotR? I'm not expecting to get four hundred reviews or anything, but I really appreciate your reviews and feedback. This is just a goal. I'm not one of those authors who hold the story hostage when they don't get the amount of reviews that they expect. But this is important to me, so I'd appreciate if we worked towards this.**

 **In addition, I would like to mention that Snowfall16 is my beta-reader for this story. She has been very helpful so far, and has pointed out many grammar and formatting mistakes that I otherwise would not have caught. (I'm lazy and I don't proofread, what can I say?)**

 **So that is all! I'll update soon, and get the first chapter out!**


	2. Chapter 1: Apprentice Ceremonies

**Aaaaand here we have it! The first chapter! We see Sassafrasstar's kits going through their apprentice ceremonies (kind of obvious by the title).**

* * *

CHAPTER 1: APPRENTICE CEREMONIES

Waterkit's POV

It was sunhigh. Soon, I would no longer be the "nobody" kit in the nursery; rather, I would be an apprentice. I couldn't wait!

My littermates and I sat together. They all seemed pretty nervous for their apprentice ceremonies. I knew why. Today was a bittersweet day; we were all thinking about how it could have been if Eaglekit hadn't died.

Eaglekit was our brother. When he was four moons old, he suddenly disappeared from RiverClan camp. We had searched and searched for him, but was never found. No cat knows why he left, but we do know he was killed somehow; Bluemist has seen Eaglekit is in StarClan. But we don't know where his body is.

These past two moons have been very difficult, but we all got over it. Except Flamekit. Out of all of us, he was the closest to Eaglekit. After Eaglekit died, he suddenly became reclusive and didn't speak to anyone unless he had to. But then again, Flamekit has always been reclusive. Unlike Swankit, Whitekit, and me, his parents are not Purpleflower and Whitestar. His actual mom is Sassafrasstar. And as for his father, well, no cat knows. Sassafrasstar refuses to even talk about it. Whenever Flamekit asks, she says that she'll tell him when the time is right.

Whitekit looked the most nervous out of all of us. He was dancing around and asking, "Will I be a good medicine cat? How will I memorize all of those herbs?"

Whitekit is so jumpy and excitable, he'd be a bad warrior. Forget about him becoming a medicine cat. I couldn't say that to his face, though, because I wouldn't want to hurt his feelings. Meanwhile, Swankit was vigorously grooming her fur. When we were younger she hadn't really cared much about her appearance; but now, she was always trying to look good. Why do she-cats always do this to themselves?

"How do I look?" she asked, shaking out her fur and sighing with satisfaction.

"Umm"… I didn't know what to say. This was the problem with Swankit. If I said something nice, she would think that I didn't mean it. But if I tried to critique anything that she did, she would get extremely insulted.

"You don't like it, do you?" Swankit demanded.

"Well"… The truth was, I didn't like how Swankit looked. Her fur looked unnaturally flat and too sleek for a kit becoming an apprentice. But how could I tell her that?

"I knew you didn't like it," she snapped. "Not that I should be surprised. Toms are always insensitive." With that, she stormed off and sat down on a cushion of moss, all by herself.

Whitekit came towards me. "What is she mad about?"

I shrugged. "Don't worry about it. She's always upset about _something_."

"I'll go talk to her," Whitekit said, bounding straight towards Swankit, who was lying on the ground and stretching her legs.

I sighed. If Whitekit wanted to waste his time talking to Swankit, that was up to him. I sat down by myself to wash my paws.

A sudden yowl filled the air. I turned my head around to see Swankit yelling at Whitekit. From what I could see, he had stepped on her outstretched leg and hurt it.

"You idiot! Watch where you're going!" Swankit yelled at him furiously. "I spent a lot of time washing that, and now your muddy paw-prints are all over my fur. And that really hurt, you know!"

"Sorry!" Whitekit squeaked. "I didn't see your leg, Swankit! I just tripped! Please forgive me!"

"You sicken me," Swankit snapped, lashing her tail at his face.

"Swankit!" Sassafrasstar came up to us. "What is going on?"

"This moron stepped on my leg!" Swankit whined. Her voice became more raucous and higher-pitched with every second. It was staring to create a scene.

"I'm sorry," Whitekit pleaded, looking as if he were about to faint. He clearly didn't want to be in trouble on his first day of apprenticeship.

Sassafrasstar didn't seem interested in Whitekit, however; her anger was instead directed to Swankit. "Swankit! Don't call your brother a moron," Sassafrasstar scolded. "You should never call any cat a moron. Apologize to him now!"

"Apologize to _him_?" Swankit snarled. "No way! If anything, he should apologize to me."

"And he's done that already," Sassafrasstar replied, her voice suddenly becoming eerily calm. "Now it's your turn."

Swankit glared at her mother, and Sassafrasstar stared her right into the eye. No cat can compete with Sassafrasstar's death stare. Finally, Swankit gave in.

"Fine," she grumbled. "Sorry Whitekit," she said.

She didn't sound sorry at all.

"Hey, Waterkit!" I heard a voice. My friend Harepaw was heading towards me. His sister, Sweetpaw, was behind him, grinning. "What does it feel like to almost be an apprentice?"

"Awesome!" I replied.

"You're going to want to go back to being a kit! Training is so tough!" Sweetpaw laughed. You'll spend ages cleaning out the elders' den. And you won't be allowed to eat first anymore. You'll have to wait until after the elders are served."

I grinned. Harepaw and Sweetpaw are the adopted kits of Goldensun and Silvermoon. Harepaw and Sweetpaw were born outside the Clan, and had been ditched along the lakeside, and Silvermoon had found them when they were only two moons old. (Silvermoon's own kits were born stillborn, so when she found Harepaw and Sweetpaw she adopted them as her own.)

"Cats of RiverClan," Sassafrasstar suddenly yowled, driving me from my thoughts. "Today we will bring five new apprentices into the Clan!"

Everyone's eyes were on us as we were herded to the foot of the ledge, where the deputy normally stood. Usually it was a mother's job to bring her kits to the front, but Silvermoon had volunteered to do it instead. Goldensun stepped aside to make room for us.

I could feel my heart beating. This was it! It was time to become an apprentice!

"My four kits have grown old enough to become members of the Clan," Sassafrasstar said, looking down at us. "Before I start, I want to say something about Eaglekit."

The clearing immediately became silent. A more solemn feeling seemed to settle in the air.

"Eaglekit was my third kit," Sassafrasstar said. "As you all know, he mysteriously vanished one night and was never found again. To this day, we have still not found out his cause of death." She took a deep breath and continued on. "I wanted to say that if it weren't for that, he would be here, having his apprentice ceremony. But he isn't, so I want us all to remember him throughout the ceremony."

I agreed with what Sassafrasstar said. I was glad that she had made that speech about Eaglekit. He really should have become an apprentice along with us.

"Will Flamekit come up first?"

Flamekit cautiously picked his way up the slope. Once he reached the top, Sassafrasstar looked down upon him.

"From this moment on, until this apprentice receives his full name, he shall be known as Flamepaw. Flamepaw, Carpflight will be your mentor."

Flamekit came down, looking delighted. Carpflight was a good cat. She was very patient and friendly, and would be a good mentor for Flamepaw.

"Swankit!" Sassafrasstar called. The frosty look on her face showed she was still upset with Swankit. Swankit tried to climb up gracefully, but she ended up limping. Whitekit must have hurt her leg more that it looked like he had.

"From this moment on, until this apprentice has received her full name, she shall be known as Swanpaw. Goldensun, you received excellent training from Darkshadow. You will be Swanpaw's mentor. Guide her with your exceptional bravery and cunning skill in battle."

A shocked look appeared on Goldensun's face. He clearly wasn't expecting to mentor the menace of the nursery. Swanpaw looked equally appalled as she went up to Goldensun for the customary touching of noses.

 _Serves her right!_ I thought gleefully. _If anyone can lick that brat into shape, it's Goldensun. He'll squash her like a bug!_

"Whitekit!" Sassafrasstar shouted. Whitekit didn't seem to hear; his head appeared to be in the clouds.

"WHITEKIT!"

Whitekit jumped out of his trance, remembering where he was. He leapt to his paws and bounded up the ledge, tripping many times. A few apprentices laughed and were shushed by their mentors.

Sassafrasstar patiently waited for him. "Until this apprentice receives his full name, he shall be known as Whitepaw. Bluemist, you were trained exceptionally well by Willowbranch, so I expect you to pass on your compassion and patience to Whitepaw."

Whitepaw shyly went up to his new mentor, seeming terrified. His whiskers were twitching. But all of his fear was erased as Bluemist gave him a lick on the cheek.

I stood up. It was my turn now. As soon as Whitepaw's ceremony was over, I saw Sassafrasstar look towards me.

"Waterkit." I excitedly raced up the Lakeledge, ready to receive my apprentice name. Who would be my mentor?

"Until this apprentice receives his full name, he shall be known as Waterpaw. Silvermoon, you will be his mentor. Pass on your strength and loyalty to Waterpaw."

I climbed down the ledge to touch noses with my mentor. "We're going to have a great time together," Silvermoon meowed, her eyes dancing with excitement.

"So where are we going now?" I asked.

"To the training hollow," she replied. "I have a few battle moves I want to show you."

I followed Silvermoon excitedly. I was very excited to begin with Silvermoon. She was such a cheerful cat, and I knew this was going to work out well. I would soon be one of the best warriors that the Clans had ever seen!

* * *

 **I'm looking forward to writing more about Swanpaw. Her nastiness makes her a pretty awesome character. We will see more of her next chapter.**

 **QOTD:** **Well, what do you think of the story so far? Tell me in the reviews!**


	3. Chapter 2: Swanpaw's Bad Luck

**Hey guys! I'm back again with another chapter. Yeah, today is Memorial Day, so we got today off from school.**

 **Review replies:**

 **Snowfall16: ****So many OCs, right? I've decided that I'm never doing this OC submission stuff again. It was difficult, and it felt as if I was giving up this story to too many people… Needless to say, I've learned my lesson now. I'm very thankful that I stopped OC submissions before I got too many of them. So not all of the characters are OCs, which is good. And about what you said for characterization. I was a bit confused on what you said about characters not being mentioned for a few chapters. Could you maybe try explaining that a different way?**

 **Frostpaw: ****I'm going to assume you're the guest who posted the third review on this page. In my experience, a writer must be fully involved in her (or his) story. She must know the personalities of her characters very well, and their moods, emotions, and struggles. She must also be able to think of a plot that supports the characters, and is sophisticated enough to keep the readers engaged (though not too sophisticated). Above all, there must be a level of commitment and dedication strong enough to make the story successful. I'm not an expert by any means, but hope this helps. :)**

* * *

CHAPTER 2: SWANPAW'S BAD LUCK

Swanpaw's POV

"So where are we going?" I asked Goldensun.

"I'm going to teach you hunting," he replied.

I followed him as we started to head out of camp. As I was walking, I felt the dull ache in my right back leg starting to worsen. It had been hurting ever since Whitepaw stepped on it, and it hadn't stopped. "Oooph!" I grunted.

"What's wrong?" Goldensun asked, sounding irritated.

"Oh, nothing," I replied hastily. "We should get going."

His cloudy, blind eyes narrowed. "You don't sound all right."

"I'm fine!" I insisted. "Nothing's wrong!" As I said this, my back leg suddenly collapsed, taking me down with it. "Ow!"

"Is it your leg?" Goldensun asked, bending down to look at it.

"Whitepaw stepped on it," I growled, standing again and unsheathing my claws.

"Stay here," he ordered. Surprised, I stared at him.

"But I'm fine!" I protested. "I want to go out hunting! I'll get treatment later."

"You're not going anywhere," Goldensun retorted. "You're limping. It doesn't look like a major injury, but it's bad enough that you should stay in camp. I cannot let you go out."

"But it's my first day!" I gasped.

"Sorry Swanpaw, but as your mentor, it is my duty to watch out for your welfare at all times," Goldensun replied. "You have two choices: you can continue to waste time arguing with me. If you do that, you won't get treatment and you don't get to go hunting. But if you listen to me and do as I say, you get treatment, and I'll take you out hunting as soon as your leg has healed."

I couldn't argue with his logic, so I reluctantly agreed. Goldensun went to get Bluemist and Whitepaw.

"The good news is her leg isn't badly injured," Bluemist said to Goldensun, after looking at me. "The tendon was just knocked."

"And the bad news is?" I prompted him.

"You can't start training today," Bluemist replied. "I'm sorry, Swanpaw. You'll have to start tomorrow.

As soon as I managed to limp to a cozy nest in the medicine den, with the help of Goldensun, Bluemist came over to me, carrying some juicy green herbs in his jaws. "Chew it up into a poultice," he told Whitepaw. "Spread it over her leg and wrap it tightly with cobwebs."

Whitepaw carried the herbs and chewed them up, spitting the juice onto a ball of moss. He then washed my leg over with it.

"Look, I'm sorry I hurt your leg," he said awkwardly. "I didn't mean to – "

– "'Sorry' doesn't cut it," I retorted. "I'm going to lose so many days of training!"

"Good job, Whitepaw," Bluemist praised. "You did a really good job on that leg-wrap. I gave you comfrey. What do you think comfrey does?"

"Help heal legs?" Whitepaw guessed. I snorted disdainfully. _Even I could have guessed that!_

"Yes," Bluemist said. "I gave you the leaves because it was only a mild injury. For broken bones, use the root of the plant. It's more effective."

I glared up at Bluemist. Whitepaw had ruined my first day as an apprentice, and all Bluemist could do was praise him! "Aren't you going to punish him for hurting me in the first place?" I growled.

"Oh yeah, and about that." Bluemist turned to Whitepaw sternly. "I know that you were excited about getting your apprentice name, but you really need to be more careful. That injury is probably going to keep her out of training for a day."

"Okay," Whitepaw said, looking ashamed. He should feel bad. He deserved it.

"Whitepaw, I have a task for you," Bluemist said, after a moment's pause. "We're running low on marigold leaves, and I need you to go collect some. Take Greenpaw with you. You know what they look like, right?"

"Sure," Whitepaw said eagerly, jumping to his paws. "I'll be back soon." He ran very quickly, shoving over some moss.

"And you, Swanpaw," Bluemist added, "you're going to be bored here doing nothing, so I would suggest going to sleep."

Unfortunately, sleep was the last thing on my mind. I rolled over, closing my eyes. But then after a moment, they opened again. It was impossible.

It was so unfair. Whitepaw had stepped on my leg, and Sassafrasstar made me apologize to him. He should have apologized to me, not the other way around. Then Goldensun comes and punishes me for something that isn't even my fault! And to top all of that, Whitepaw doesn't even get in trouble!

A sudden noise made me turn in my nest. I saw Frostheart, one of the senior warriors, coming in with her apprentice, Harepaw. The side of Harepaw's pelt looked swollen and was covered with red welts. _What trouble has he gotten himself into now?_ I thought, suppressing a sarcastic remark. Harepaw was so clumsy. Similarly to Whitepaw, he was always tripping over leaves or falling into the swamp. They routinely ended up in the medicine den with scratches and sore pads.

I pretended to be asleep so that Bluemist wouldn't bother me. But my ears were wide open. I wanted to hear what was going on.

"Is this a bad time to come?" Frostheart asked. "I see you have another patient." Her voice sounded whiny, as if she had gotten a cold, and her tone was disapproving. _What is up with that she-cat?_ It is no secret that Frostheart is about as cranky as the oldest elder. I don't know how Harepaw ended up with a cat like her as his mentor. Sometimes, I actually find myself feeling sorry for him.

"No, it's fine," Bluemist said. "Swanpaw is sleeping, and so far she hasn't fussed."

"Harepaw here got into a swarm of bees," Frostheart meowed. "Could you see to him?"

"Some blackberry leaves should do it," he replied. I heard him chew some leaves into a poultice. Harepaw winced as Bluemist pulled out the stings, but otherwise didn't do anything.

"Where's your apprentice?" Frostheart asked Bluemist.

"I sent him out to get herbs," Bluemist answered. "Harepaw, you're fine now. You can go into training again tomorrow. Just take the day off, okay? Frostheart, I need to go and report these injuries to Sassafrasstar. Can you keep an eye on things while I'm gone?"

"Sure," Frostheart said. Bluemist nodded to her and padded out of the den.

But once Bluemist left, I heard Frostheart shouting. "Harepaw, you useless apprentice! How many times do I have to tell you not to walk into a bee's nest?"

"I'm sorry!" Harepaw squeaked. "I just – "

– "Wanted to publicly humiliate me?" Frostheart cut in. "Listen, I am one of the best warriors in the Clan. All of my previous apprentices were good. I don't want you to end up as a failure. There is no way in StarClan you're going to make me look bad! Understood?"

"Okay," Harepaw meowed. That was all he could say. Frostheart suddenly smiled, revealing sharp yellow teeth.

"Good," she purred. "Get some rest. I'll see you in the morning."

I still lay unmoving, stunned at what I had just heard. Why was Frostheart so incredibly nasty to her own apprentice? What was going on?


	4. Chapter 3: ShadowClan's Accusation

**I figured that I might as well post the next chapter now, because school starts again tomorrow and I can't update for a week. Things are about to get interesting real soon…**

* * *

CHAPTER 3: SHADOWCLAN'S ACCUSATION

Waterpaw's POV

It was the full moon. All four of us were making excellent progress in our training. In fact, Sassafrasstar was so pleased that she invited all of us to the Gathering.

Before we left for the island, I sat down in the camp clearing below the Lakeledge, as I carefully groomed my fur. I generally didn't care too much about how I looked, but I wanted to look presentable at my first Gathering.

"Yo, Waterpaw."

My eyes snapped upwards. With dismay, I realized it was Heronpaw who had caught me sitting in the clearing. "You got a moment?" he asked.

"Uh, sure." I bit back a groan, forcing a smile I was sure looked more like a grimace. I never liked Heronpaw. He and Greenpaw, his littermate, acted like they owned the RiverClan camp, just because they were the oldest apprentices. They didn't normally talk to the younger apprentices, unless they were trying to bully or intimidate them. I knew that whatever Heronpaw was going to do, it wasn't good.

Heronpaw grinned as he sat down next to me. "You know, I just realized something," he said. "There are only two she-cat apprentices in RiverClan."

It took all of my self-control not to start laughing. Did he really only just notice that? _Wow, great observation._ Staring at my paws, I refused to show any acknowledgement of what he was saying. "Yeah, I've noticed that too. So?"

"Well, none of them are really cool, if you know what I'm saying," Heronpaw continued on. "Sweetpaw is kind of boring, and Swanpaw is a bit stuck-up, if you know what I mean."

"Well?"

"I just can't help but wonder what the she-cats in the other Clans are like," Heronpaw said. "You know, you are going to the Gathering tonight. You should really meet some of them."

"Uh, sure, I can do that," I said uneasily. Where exactly was he going with this?

Heronpaw hesitated. He leaned in closer, and whispered in my ear. "I dare you to meet with a she-cat from another Clan in the middle of the night."

For a second, I didn't say anything; I was too shocked. When I did speak, my voice came out as a whisper. "You want me to break the warrior code?"

"It's technically not betrayal," Heronpaw pointed out. "It's only for one night."

"I'm not doing it." I insisted. "I'm not interested in taking a mate yet. For StarClan's sake, I'm only an apprentice!"

The smile disappeared from Heronpaw's face. He leaned in closer, his face so close that it felt like he was breathing on my whiskers. I shuffled backward to escape, but he moved in even closer than before. "Now you listen up, and you listen good. You will do what I say, like it or not. You will find a she-cat at the Gathering tonight. Then you will meet with her later tonight. If you don't, then there will be consequences. Understood?"

I nodded shakily. "Sure," I stuttered. "I – I'll do it."

Heronpaw smirked. "Either way, I will find out if you've done what you're told. If you don't do as I ask, then you'll find out what it's like to be on my bad side. And trust me, you don't want to be on my bad side." With this threat still hanging in the air, he left.

* * *

The full moon was bright as we crossed the tree-bridge. Greenpaw, Harepaw, and Sweetpaw were swimming across the lake to get to the island, but my siblings and I didn't know how to swim yet. We'd learn how to swim in newleaf, when the water was warmer.

Whitepaw was terrified of all of the cats from the other Clans, so he stuck right to Bluemist's side the whole time. But I had no time to be scared. I had to do what Heronpaw said. Why did Heronpaw even want me to do this in the first place? Great StarClan, what was his problem?

Now that I thought of it, I realized I really wasn't doing this for Heronpaw. I guessed I'd been lying when I told Heronpaw I wasn't interested in she-cats. In the back of my mind, I had also come to the conclusion that the she-cats in RiverClan were boring, and wished that there was someone else who I could be with.

Suddenly, I felt something collide with me. For a second, I saw only stars; then I heard a yowl. "Who are you?"

My vision cleared; I saw a tortoiseshell she-cat standing in front of me. She stared at me in surprise. "Sorry, didn't mean to walk into you!" she exclaimed. "You okay?"

"Um, yes," I said. "Er, sorry."

"It's fine," she said, looking down at her paws. "I'll go find my Clan." She scurried off, with me staring after her. As I watched, I remember Heronpaw's dare. _This could be it. I have to go after her._ I started to walk towards the she-cat, but then I heard a yell.

"Waterpaw!" Sassafrasstar yowled. "Can you come with me for a moment?" She looked concerned. "Sure," I said, following her towards the oak tree.

"What is it?" I asked. "You look worried."

"I have to warn you," Sassafrasstar said. "Waterpaw, do you know who that she-cat is?"

"No," I said. "What's her name?"

"Turtlepaw," Sassafrasstar explained. "She's from ShadowClan, and she's Flowerstar's daughter."

My jaw dropped. I had not been expecting that. "Flowerstar has a daughter?" I gasped. "But… but why is she in ShadowClan? Wasn't Flowerstar a WindClan cat?"

"I was talking to Whitestar about her last Gathering," Sassafrasstar explained. "She's about three moons older than you. She was a very young kit when Flowerstar began her conquest to take over the lake. But when the battle ended, Turtlepaw decided that she couldn't bear to be in WindClan anymore. She had too many horrible memories. Since she had some friends in ShadowClan after the alliance, Darkstar allowed her to join them."

I shrugged. "She's not following the path of her mother. So she clearly isn't evil."

"Waterpaw, I'm warning you, she's trouble. Stay away from her."

I rolled my eyes. "All right, if you insist," I grumbled.

Sassafrasstar nodded. "That is all," she said. She then returned to Crowstar, with whom she was talking before.

I went towards a grassy spot in the meadow, where most of the other apprentices were. But as I walked, I suddenly heard shouting. I turned to my left and saw Turtlepaw with two other ShadowClan apprentices. They were both scolding her.

"You know that you don't talk to a RiverClan cat, you idiot," one of the apprentices scolded. "Darkstar made it clear yesterday. You know what they did to us!"

 _Wait, what did we do?_ I thought, confused. I didn't know of anything that RiverClan had done to arouse ShadowClan's anger.

"Typical of Flowerstar's daughter," the other apprentice sneered, with a smirk on his face.

"Stop it, Orangepaw," Turtlepaw snapped. "Just because Flowerstar was my mother doesn't mean that I would betray my Clan. And all I did was exchange a few sentences with him."

"You act like WindClan, the way you try to defend RiverClan cats," the first apprentice added. "When Darkstar called the meeting that day, you were the one to say that RiverClan deserves a chance."

"Look, there he is now!" the second apprentice, Orangepaw, yowled as he pointed at me. "Turtlepaw, prove your loyalty!"

I couldn't take it anymore.

"Look," I said, coming up to the three apprentices, "you guys just need to chill. She didn't even do anything, for StarClan's sake."

"It's none of your business," the first apprentice snapped, taking a hostile step forwards. "Stay out of it!"

"I know it's not my business," I said boldly, "but you need to leave her alone."

"Fine," said Orangepaw, glaring at me. "Have fun with RiverClan scum, Turtlepaw. Tigerpaw, let's go."

The two toms left. Turtlepaw stared at me as if I had jumped out of a tree and flown down to her on wings. "Thank you." She looked down at her paws. "They've been like this ever since I joined ShadowClan."

"Toms can be jerks sometimes," I told her. "I'm a tom, and I have no problem saying that."

She smiled, still staring down. "I hate it when cats judge me. They assume I don't deserve to be in ShadowClan because I was born WindClan. And because Flowerstar is my mother."

"I know what you mean," I said sympathetically. "My father is Whitestar, and my mother was Purpleflower of RiverClan. I know what it's like for cats to judge you based off of where you come from. I think this whole system is flawed. Cats should be allowed to mate with whomever they want, not who StarClan thinks they should. If the Clans were more open to each other, none of these problems would be happening."

"That's exactly how I feel!" Turtlepaw stared at me. "You do get me, don't you?" She cocked her head. "I wish we could talk about this more."

"Maybe we could meet tonight?" I suddenly heard the words come out of my mouth. "Right here, at the island."

"Well…" Turtlepaw hesitated.

"If you don't want to, it's fine," I said. "But it's only for one night, so it's technically not against the code." I could hear Heronpaw's logic repeating itself in my ears.

"Sure," Turtlepaw said finally, after a long pause. "I'll see you here." She turned to leave.

"Wait!" I called to her. "Before you go, can I ask you one question? What exactly did RiverClan do to make ShadowClan angry? What were those other apprentices talking about?"

"You'll find out soon enough," Turtlepaw answered nervously with a glance at the pine tree. "I'd better go."

"It is time for the Gathering to start," Whitestar announced. "Cats of all Clans, go to your normal positions!"

I found my Clan in front of the willow tree and went to sit next to Harepaw. "Hey," I whispered, "how is the Gathering so far?"

"Good," he whispered back. "Weren't you talking to that apprentice Sassafrasstar told you not to talk to?"

I stared at him in alarm. "Shh! Yes, I was. How did you know?"

"I heard Sassafrasstar telling you not to talk to her," Harepaw said back. "Lucky for you, she was talking to Crowstar, so she didn't see you. She would have had your tail if she had!"

"Shh! The Gathering is starting!" Swanpaw hissed, glaring at the two of us. We shut up at once.

"WindClan is doing fine," Whitestar spoke, looking down at all of us. "Hunting is very plentiful in the hills. We have a new warrior, Flamefoot!"

"Flamefoot! Flamefoot! Flamefoot!" everyone cheered. The new warrior held his head high.

Next it was Sassafrasstar's turn to speak. She spoke confidently to the four Clans. "This moon, Brindlepaw received her warrior name. She is now to be called Brindlefire." Everyone cheered for her. "We also have four new apprentices, Flamepaw, Swanpaw, Whitepaw, and Waterpaw. Whitepaw is our medicine apprentice. He has not been to the Moonpool yet, but will go at the half-moon."

"Flamepaw! Swanpaw! Whitepaw! Waterpaw!" Everyone cheered for us.

Crowstar stepped up. "We have a new apprentice, Squirrelpaw," he meowed. "Goldenear is her mentor."

"Squirrelpaw! Squirrelpaw! Squirrelpaw!" everyone shouted.

"The prey in ThunderClan is running well," Crowstar added. "We don't have many apprentices, so it often gets difficult to manage everything. But other than that, we are doing fine."

Darkstar finally stepped up. "If you are all done, I'd like to make an announcement." His dark eyes flashed around coldly, like slivers of ice.

The air suddenly grew thick with hesitation. I glanced nervously around. _This must be what Turtlepaw and those other apprentices were talking about_ , I thought. Whatever is going to happen, this can't be good.

"ShadowClan is not doing well," Darkstar meowed. "A warrior named Featherheart was murdered a few days ago."

A gasp could be heard around the island.

"I'm not done yet!" Darkstar hissed, glaring around the clearing. "Shut up and let me finish, all of you. She was my daughter, and one of the best warriors in the Clan. When she died, there was RiverClan scent all over her body." He looked straight at the willow tree, where Sassafrasstar was sitting. "It is obvious that it was RiverClan who killed her. There is no other way that we could have found RiverClan scent on her wounds. So, Sassafrasstar, I demand to know: which one of your cats killed my daughter?"

There was a silence. Finally, Sassafrasstar gazed at Darkstar calmly. "I can assure you that no cat in my Clan killed Featherheart," she meowed. "I am very sorry to hear about this. But if I find out anything, I will let you know."

"Nonsense!" Goldensun hissed. "No cat in this Clan killed Featherheart, and how dare you accuse us of murder?"

Bluemist silenced his brother with a flick of his tail. "Calm down, Goldensun!"

Darkstar's eyes narrowed with fury. "If no cat is going to admit to this heinous crime, then ShadowClan is leaving! I for one do not think that my Clan should spend the night with murderers." He leapt down from the pine tree and followed his Clan home.

There was a silence. Then Whitestar meowed awkwardly, "I guess we'd better leave, too."

"Yeah, we'd better go," Crowstar added. "Come on ThunderClan!" he called.

With no other Clan at the Gathering, we had no choice but to leave. As we left, I only had one thought in my mind: why had Darkstar accused us? What was to happen next?

* * *

 **Yes, I know that Heronpaw's dare may seem a bit weird. But it'll make more sense next chapter.**

 **AOTD:** **Well, I am a bit worried about how this is going to go. TRotR certainly isn't as well-planned or structured as TMotM, even with the huge amount of time I took to write it. But I'm also excited. I know that this story is definitely going somewhere, and I'm sure that it has potential to turn out beautifully.**

 **QOTD:** **What do you think of Sassafrasstar's inability to trust Turtlepaw?**


	5. Chapter 4: Blackmail

**Hey guys! We're going to see some more action between Turtlepaw and Waterpaw in this chapter.**

 **writer s.k:** **Thanks! It's good to see you again. How is your story,** ** _The New Era_** **, getting along?**

* * *

CHAPTER 4: BLACKMAIL

Waterpaw's POV

When we came back from the Gathering, the first thing that Heronpaw did was to come straight up to me. "So did you do it?"

"Yes," I told him. "I'm with Turtlepaw of ShadowClan."

Heronpaw laughed. "Of all the she-cats, you had to pick her. This will be interesting. Where did you agree to see her, and what time?"

It occurred to me that Heronpaw might want to watch my outing with Turtlepaw. I realized that if I told him where we were meeting, he would follow me. I couldn't let him do that.

"We're meeting at the ShadowClan border, near the Thunderpath," I said, hoping to send him as far away from our actual meeting place as possible, but to a place which seemed realistic.

He narrowed his eyes, looking suspicious, but nodded. "All right. But if I don't see you there, at moonhigh," he added threateningly, "then you're in trouble."

As soon as everyone else fell asleep, I left. I knew that Heronpaw would get up at moonhigh to look for me, and it was only moonrise. Knowing Heronpaw, he was probably asleep now and would get some cat to wake him up at moonhigh. But I had to be quiet about it, or Heronpaw would wake up and follow me.

The cat on guard duty was Carpflight, and she looked half-asleep. It was easy to sneak past her and go through the camp opening. Once I reached the exit, I breathed a sigh of relief.

Turtlepaw was waiting for me when I got there. "Hello Waterpaw," she purred. "How have you been doing?"

"Who is Featherheart?" I asked. "And why would Darkstar accuse RiverClan of killing her?"

In a matter of seconds, Turtlepaw went from cheerful to grim-faced. "She was a really good friend of mine," she murmured. "Featherheart was one of the few cats in ShadowClan who supported me. She thought that I could be loyal to ShadowClan, even though I was born in WindClan. But then she died, and I lost my only friend."

"Wait a minute," I said. "Who said that Featherheart was your only friend? You have me now. We can be friends."

"You really mean that?" Turtlepaw said gratefully. "Thank you Waterpaw. But you do know that's all we can ever be. We can't betray our Clans just to be together. Right?" she added uncertainly.

"Right," I agreed. "If we ever meet in battle, our Clans always come first."

"Of course," Turtlepaw agreed. "And it's not like we're breaking any rules. What we're doing is okay. No, it's more than okay. It's… fine. I mean, the warrior code says we can have friends from other Clans, but loyalty to our own Clan must always come first."

"Yeah," I agreed. "And I'm really sorry about Featherheart," I added shyly.

"I know," Turtlepaw sighed. "I wish that I could find Featherheart's killer. I'm a better cat than Darkstar, because I'm not going to accuse RiverClan right off the bat. But whoever did it deserves to be punished; we can agree on that."

We spent the entire night talking. At moonfall, I reluctantly rose to my paws. "Time to go back home," I meowed. "How about we meet back here in four days?

"Sure," she agreed. "I'm going to have to roll in moss so no one catches RiverClan scent on me. Let's hope I'm not called for the dawn patrol!" She left the island.

While she was gone, I made my way to the lake and stood neck-deep in water for a few moments, which would wash away all of the WindClan scent on me. After I had licked my fur dry, I began on my way home.

While I walked, I saw a distant figure in the mist. Who was that? For a heart-stopping second, I thought it was Heronpaw, but then I realized the cat in the mist was too small to be him. Then again, I was seeing them from a distance and it could be anyone.

There was no chance to think about whether it was Heronpaw or not. I had to run before everyone in the camp woke up.

It was sunrise by the time I reached camp. I was exhausted from running so far, and ready to go to my warm moss bed. As soon as I reached camp, I saw with relief that no cat was awake yet. So I went to the apprentices' den and lay down in my nest, closing my eyes. After a few moments, I felt someone tap on my shoulder and I opened my eyes.

Frostheart stood over me, glaring at me with the evil eye. She motioned for me to get up.

"Oh, hi," I said, faking a yawn. "You woke me up."

"Really?" Frostheart asked disbelievingly. "So you mean to say that you sleepwalked the entire journey out of camp, past the swamp, around the territory, and back?"

"Umm…" I didn't have a response to that.

"Come with me," Frostheart said coldly, turning towards the entrance of the apprentices' den. I had no choice but to follow.

Sassafrasstar spend a good portion of the morning scolding me about how apprentices were not allowed to leave the camp at night. "Heronpaw caught you sneaking out last night," she told me. "He told me about it this morning."

I was furious. "It was Heronpaw?" I asked angrily. _Just wait till I catch up with that scumbag_ , I thought to myself.

"Don't blame Heronpaw for your own stupidity," Sassafrasstar replied coolly. "You should be grateful that he told me. He was only trying to make sure that you wouldn't do something that dumb again."

I was too insulted to even nod.

"You can stay in camp today," Sassafrasstar said. "And you can do the elders' ticks. That will keep you awake."

I stormed out of Sassafrasstar's den and down the Lakeledge. I searched around for Heronpaw. _That tom is going to wish he had never been kitted._

"Heronpaw! Over here now!" I yowled towards the brown tom. He looked up from his carp. When he saw me, his face turned into a sneer.

"You got in trouble with your mommy, didn't you?"

"Listen Heronpaw," I said, standing up to him, "That was low. Why did you go and tell Sassafrasstar what happened?"

"And why did you lie to me?" Heronpaw snapped back. "You told me you were meeting near the ShadowClan border. You know, I was wandering there last night, looking for you, and I ventured onto the Thunderpath. I nearly got run over by a monster. So you deserve what you got. And be glad that I didn't tell Sassafrasstar the real reason why you went out last night. She would have flipped out."

"Why did you do it, anyways?" I snarled. "Why did you make me go out with Turtlepaw?"

Heronpaw smirked. "Why do you think?" he said. "Let's say that I ask you to get me some carp from the fresh-kill pile. And you say no. Well, your secret might accidentally slip out…"

"You wouldn't," I gasped. "That's blackmail! You mean your plan all along was to turn me into your slave?"

"Pretty much," Heronpaw grinned.

"If you tell someone, you know I can tell them you put me up to it," I said. "You'll get into as much trouble as me."

"What are you going to say?" Heronpaw replied. "'Um, Heronpaw sort of dared me into breaking the warrior code, so it's his fault too.' No one is going to believe you. It's such a far-fetched accusation that I wouldn't believe it myself."

He had a point, I had to admit.

"Fine then," I said grudgingly, turning away.

"That's a good little apprentice," Heronpaw smirked. "Oh, and by the way, can you get me a trout? Make it a big one. And get one for Greenpaw too."

I growled and stomped towards the fresh-kill pile, searching for the trout. I knew I had to think of a way to get back at Heronpaw. There was no way I could let him win.

* * *

 ** AOTD: I don't know. I mean, Sassafrasstar obviously doesn't trust Turtlepaw, because she's the daughter of Flowerstar and all that stuff. But of course, they're all going to end up trusting Turtlepaw because you shouldn't judge cats by who their parents were. That seems to be the theme here.**

 **Yes, at this point it is pretty obvious that Waterpaw and Turtlepaw will become a couple. You're probably thinking, _why'd you put another forbidden couple in there? Forbidden love is so cliché!_ Whatever you think is going to happen, it won't. Their relationship is not going to end the way you expect.**

 ** QOTD: What's your favorite genre of writing?**


	6. Chapter 5: The Breaking of a Friendship

**In TRotR, dream sections will not be italicized. This is because it gets a bit confusing when you see the dream through the dead cat's point of view. Flashbacks will still be italicized and in third person, though.**

 **Snowfall16: ****I wouldn't be able to help with the notification issue. I never check my email or bother with notifications; in fact I have a separate email address for fanfiction because I get really annoyed when my inbox gets spammed by everything. And now I understand what you mean about reminding the readers of certain characters. That is definitely something I'll remember. I'll add that in future chapters.**

 **Okatu Fernsneeze:** **I think I should stick to calling you Okatu Fernsneeze, but I'll still know if you review as BRUH. If it's easier for you to review without logging in, that's all right. Oh, and I understand you having too much schoolwork. I don't know why teachers have to pile the work on our heads at the end of the year, I think they do it just to make our lives miserable. And we will see Eaglekit. He has a major role in this story, even though he's in StarClan.**

* * *

CHAPTER 5: THE BREAKING OF A FRIENDSHIP

 _That night_

Flamepaw's POV

After a day of learning battle moves and hunting, I was exhausted. As soon as we were done eating, I made a beeline for the apprentices' den.

On the toms' side of the den, my nest sat in the corner. In the winter, we generally pulled our nests closer together for warmth. Waterpaw and Harepaw's nests were very close together, but I didn't need any cat for comfort. There was no way I was going to start depending on other cats.

I closed my eyes as soon as my head hit the moss. Before I knew it, I was asleep.

* * *

I woke up to find myself in a starry meadow. Where was I? Then I remembered. Eaglekit had arranged to meet me tonight.

Every few nights or so, Eaglekit would visit me in a dream. We would meet in this starry meadow and talk. It was against the StarClan rules for dead cats to visit the living, except for the occasional prophecy, in a dream. However, Eaglekit was always careful not to get caught. We always had fun together.

"Hello," I said to Eaglekit, smiling. Then I stopped when I didn't see him smile back. This had me worried.

"Is something wrong?" I asked him nervously.

"Um, well"… Eaglekit's eyes darted to the side.

"Spit it out, bro," I advised him. "If there's something wrong, I need to know."

He flicked his tail nervously. "Alright then, I'll spit it out." He turned to face me. "I can't come to visit you anymore."

I had not been expecting that. When I spoke again, my voice felt faint. "But why? Did StarClan find out?"

"No they didn't," he replied. "But, well, I kind of realized it for myself."

"What do you mean?"

"You're a living cat," he reminded me, "and I'm from StarClan." He stared uncertainly at his paws. "I know we've been meeting each other for three moons, but this has got to stop."

It took all of my self-control not to cuff my brother on the ears. "And you're telling me this _now_?"

"I should have done this a long time ago," he said regretfully. "But I've seen what you've become, Flamepaw. You're not your own cat anymore. Ever since I died, you've always been chasing after me. You completely ignore your siblings. We can't do this anymore. You have to live your own life."

"So you're not going to visit me anymore?"

"I won't," he said firmly, "unless I'm giving you a prophecy or something like that. It's against the StarClan rules for me to visit you unless it's for a prophecy or vision."

"You were doing it before," I insisted. "So what is stopping you now?"

"I was doing it because I wasn't over losing you either, and because I thought it looked cool to break the rules," he admitted. "But it's wrong. I can't do it anymore. They have these rules for a reason, Flamepaw."

"You're my kin," I said stubbornly. "I can't abandon kin."

"Oh, you're doing a good job of following that logic with your other kin, I see?" Eaglekit's eyes flashed. "Your living kin, I mean. Look, you're just going to have to come to grips with it, okay? You can't be with me anymore. Start living your own life. You can never do that if you're chasing after a dead cat." With that, he started to walk away.

 _If only he hadn't died,_ I thought mournfully. Then I suddenly had a thought. "Before you go, can I ask one last question?" I called.

"Sure," Eaglekit glanced over his shoulder. "What is it?"

"How did you die?"

Eaglekit frowned. "Well"… he muttered. "I'll show you." He closed his eyes and concentrated. Green starlight started to appear on his pelt. Then he opened his eyes, and I looked down at his fur. A long, gaping scar was on his pelt, extending from his spine all the way to the throat.

I gasped. "Great StarClan! Who did this to you?"

"I… I can't say," he stammered.

"Yes you can," I growled. "Tell me now!"

"I… I don't know," he said, looking frightened.

I snorted. "How do you not know, Eaglekit? You're a StarClan cat!"

"It's not that simple," he protested. "Life here isn't as perfect as you'd expect. And there are dangerous things going on here, things that I don't know about. I can feel it!"

"But – "

– "I have to go," Eaglekit cut me off before I could finish. As he left the scene, the meadow dissolved into darkness.

* * *

In the middle of the night, I woke up shaking. There was something very wrong about this. What did Eaglekit mean when he said there were dark things going on in StarClan? And who had killed him?

* * *

 **Aaaand the plot thickens. What is Flamepaw going to do now?**

 **AOTD: ****My favorite genre? Maybe historical fiction or fantasy or something along those lines… though we can all agree that fanfiction is the best.**

 **QOTD: ****What do you think about Frostheart so far?**


	7. Chapter 6: Swanpaw the Brave

**Snowfall16: ****Yeah, when Flamepaw says he doesn't want to rely on other cats, he means he doesn't want to rely on other** ** _living_** **cats. Since he was really close with Eaglekit as a kit, he couldn't let go of him when he died. And Frostheart is quite weird. She seems like a nasty character, but not evil like Flowerstar or Sandfur. As of now, her story seems to be going off in an interesting direction… (evil smile)**

 **Okatu Fernsneeze:** **It is really annoying when they give the honors classes so much more work than the regular. Yes, honors is a higher level than regular, but do you really need to dump so much work on our heads? The regular kids are only fit for getting Cs on extremely easy assignments, while the honors kids have to struggle through endless amounts of work. And some of those assignments in English class are really pointless. I think the whole system is flawed. English class doesn't teach you how to have fun reading and write creatively; it just gives you a lot of pointless work. In school, they don't encourage creativity; they just enforce following rigid rules. Yes, you need to know grammar rules and stuff, but do you really need to do twelve different analysis papers? That's not writing, it's just busywork.**

* * *

CHAPTER 6: SWANPAW THE BRAVE

 _The next morning_

Swanpaw's POV

I woke up from a night of restlessness and with an ache in my back. Training yesterday was really tiring, and my muscles felt strained. I got up and stretched.

"Morning," Flamepaw muttered to me as he left the den. I stared at him. Great StarClan, what's up with him? His fur looked dull, as if he had aged overnight. I know that training had been tough, but it didn't seem to affect him yesterday that much. But today it seemed to have gotten to him. What was up with him?

I shrugged. Why was I even thinking about this? It was Flamepaw's problem, not mine. I headed out of the den, where I saw Heronpaw talking to Waterpaw.

"Get me a snapper-fish," Heronpaw said to Waterpaw. "See that red one over there? I want it."

I watched as Waterpaw obediently nodded his head, and turned around to the pile to grab the fish. He went back to Heronpaw and dropped it at his feet.

"Thank you," Heronpaw said in a polite voice that was obviously fake. He turned to Greenpaw and laughed.

I had enough. First Flamepaw acts up, and now Waterpaw. I went up to Waterpaw, who was getting trout for himself. He looked up as he saw me. "Hey, Swanpaw. What's up?"

"What are you doing?" I hissed. "Why do you need to serve Heronpaw his food? Why can't he just get it himself?"

"Shh!" he hissed, sounding agitated. "Listen, we kind of had a deal. It's nothing major." He didn't sound very convincing, though.

"Are you going to let him boss you around?" I pressed on. "Why can't you stand up for yourself? You can't let Greenpaw and Heronpaw act like they rule the camp!"

"Mind your own business, Swanpaw! What's it to you?" he suddenly exploded. "Why do you care, anyways? You're not exactly perfect yourself." He grabbed his fish and stormed off.

"Fine!" I yelled at him. "Be that way!" I kicked over a pebble and watched it fly across the grassy field.

* * *

At sunfall, Harepaw and I were due for a fishing lesson. We met Goldensun and Frostheart by the river. "Swanpaw and Harepaw, both of you are going to learn how to hunt," Goldensun said.

"You mean, you're going to teach Swanpaw and I'll re-teach Harepaw, as he seems to have forgotten how to hunt." Frostheart put in. Harepaw lowered his head in shame.

Goldensun pointedly turned his back on Frostheart, clearly annoyed by her rudeness. "So, as I was saying," he meowed icily, "Harepaw, you're more experienced, so show Swanpaw how it's done."

 _Yeah, right_ , I thought. Even Whitepaw would be a better teacher than Harepaw. I didn't dare say it aloud, though, because I didn't want to miss another day of training.

It seemed Harepaw's skills had regressed over the past moon. He's always been clumsy, but apparently he's gotten worse. I've heard Frostheart complain about him to the other senior warriors. Harepaw's lack of abilities has also made him a target for constant teasing from Greenpaw and Heronpaw.

Harepaw eagerly bounded over to the river, where he squatted down, waiting for a fish to come. When a huge trout came swimming nearby, Harepaw eagerly thrust his claws in, hoping to catch the fish. But he misaimed, and nearly fell into the water. The fish used that time to escape.

"Harepaw you fish-brain, I've taught you this a thousand times," Frostheart growled.

Even Goldensun seemed to agree. "I'm the blind one here, and I could tell where that was," he muttered. "Let me demonstrate." He walked up to the river and sat quietly, angling is ears towards the water. Since he was blind and couldn't see fish coming, he had to balance one whisker carefully over the water so that he could detect movements in the water. He waited, and when the time was right, he pounced. Goldensun triumphantly lifted a huge pike out of the water.

"Wow!" Harepaw gasped. That was most certainly one big fish! Even Frostheart seemed impressed.

"Swanpaw, now you try," Goldensun said.

I cautiously walked towards the water. "Unsheathe your claws," said Frostheart. "You have to be silent. When a fish comes close enough, you pounce, but don't fall into the water."

I waited. And waited. It seemed to take forever. Then I saw some carp swimming towards me. Without thinking, I thrust my paw into the water, reaching for the fish. For a while, we both struggled; then I managed to hook it with my claw and pull it out.

"Nice job!" said Goldensun. "That was very good for your first try." Harepaw grinned at me, but I could tell he was feeling a little left out, particularly because a new apprentice had beaten him.

We carried our catches to the camp. Goldensun showed me how to balance the fish on my back and tail. Then he and Frostheart took the lead, while Harepaw and I walked behind, not really knowing what to say to each other. While we were walking, I saw Greenpaw and Heronpaw chatting excitedly.

Greenpaw came up to us. "Hi, Harepaw," he sneered. "And hi Swanpaw." When he said my name, his voice changed to something softer. I wasn't going to fall for it though. Clearly Greenpaw had a crush on me. But he was still a jerk.

"So, what did you catch?" Heronpaw asked us.

"I caught a carp," I said.

"Great job!" Greenpaw said in an unnecessarily loud tone. "And you, Harepaw?"

Harepaw bowed his head. "Nothing," he muttered.

Heronpaw started to laugh. "If you keep this up, Sassafrasstar is going to rename you Dumbpaw."

"You're warrior name is going to be Dumbfish!" Greenpaw added. "You're clearly as stupid as one!"

"Dumbfish! Dumbfish!" the two toms yelled.

"Stop!" pleaded Harepaw. The two were laughing. I felt a little sorry for Harepaw, but I had to agree with Heronpaw and Greenpaw. Harepaw really needed to get his act together.

"How about we get the little fishie?" Heronpaw taunted. "Come on Harepaw, swim! Swim like the fishie you are!"

"Stop it!" Harepaw screeched. By then, tears were streaming down his cheeks, and I had to look away. It was a pathetic sight.

"Fishies don't cry, you pathetic little swimmer!" Greenpaw crowed. "Maybe if we put him in the water, he'll behave."

"Let's do it," Heronpaw agreed, motioning towards him. The two toms stepped towards Harepaw.

And that was when I lost it.

"Leave him alone!" I yelled.

The two of them turned to stare at me. "Oh, hi Swanpaw," said Greenpaw, as if he had just noticed me.

"How cute," Heronpaw laughed. "He needs a she-cat to stand up for him."

"Shut up!" Greenpaw growled.

"I said, leave him alone!" I repeated. "If you're going to insult someone, at least think of something original. You two ganging up against him is not funny."

"We were just having a little argument," Greenpaw said. "It's what we toms do."

I snorted. "It didn't look like it. And for the record, this isn't the first time you've bullied someone. I saw you treating Waterpaw like a slave this morning."

Greenpaw came closer to me. "You're very cute when you frown," he said. He put his tail on my shoulders and placed his paw next to mine.

In one fluid motion, I lifted my tail up and slapped him _hard_ in the face. The slap echoed around the forest. "Get away from me!" I screeched at him. Greenpaw backed away from me, looking shocked, while Harepaw doubled over laughing.

"What's going on?" I heard Frostheart shout. Greenpaw's and Heronpaw's mentors, Brightleaf and Snakescale, came running forwards.

"What happened?" Goldensun demanded.

"I don't want to talk about it," I snapped, trying to disguise the tears in my eyes. Frostheart was giving a long lecture on how Clanmates had to get along with each other, because arguing would make us weaker in times of war.

 _Yeah_ , I thought, _like you get along with Harepaw._ Frostheart was such a hypocrite. And I hated Greenpaw and Heronpaw. Why did they have to be so horrible to everyone?

* * *

Things didn't improve for me later on.

At sunset, when we all sat down in the camp to eat, everyone seemed to know the story. Heronpaw went around making fun of Harepaw, and Harepaw went around telling everyone what a great hero I was.

"So Swanpaw, whose life are you going to save next?" Waterpaw teased me.

"Oh shut up," I snapped at him. He sighed and went off to find Harepaw.

At that point, Greenpaw came to me. "Look, Harepaw and I were just having a disagreement," he said. "We toms always argue."

"That was not arguing," I replied, "it was flat-out bullying."

"It's nothing you need to worry your pretty little head about," he said.

This only made me angrier. "So just because I'm a she-cat, I supposedly don't understand these things?"

The look on Greenpaw's face said it all.

"Well, guess what? She-cats can be just as tough as toms. And Greenpaw, I'm not going to like you unless you pull your act together. Here's a tip: if you want someone to like you, then don't act like you own the whole world. We don't like that sort of behavior in toms." And then I snatched up my food and stormed off.

Harepaw came to greet me. "I don't think that I thanked you enough for what you did today."

"It was nothing," I mumbled through a mouthful of scales.

"No really." Harepaw blocked my path, forcing me to look up at him. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Actually, there is one thing," I said. "Get out of my way." And then I shoved past him and stalked off.

* * *

 **AOTD: ****Frostheart? Well, I can't say much, lest I spoil the whole thing, but… she's pretty nasty. I think we've figured out that much by now. And she's going to get nastier. It's really fun to write about her and Swanpaw having at each other, though.**

 **QOTD: ****If you could choose a Clan, which one would you live in and why?**


	8. Chapter 7: An Unwelcome Surprise

**Snowfall16: ****I love swimming too, which is why I like RiverClan as well. I like SkyClan a lot, because they climb trees (and the whole thing about them being the "lost Clan", that's also pretty cool). I don't really dislike any of the Clans (except ThunderClan), but I prefer some over others.**

 **Okatu Fernsneeze:** **I don't like ThunderClan that much either. They always get the attention in the books, which annoys me. Why couldn't they focus more on the other Clans? In some of the series, they could have focused on cats in other Clans and put them as main characters. About school, I hate it when the regular classes get low grades for such easy assignments. The teachers assume that since we're in honors classes, we should miraculously know everything about the subject (even if the teacher hasn't taught it yet). And don't worry about Swanpaw. Nothing will happen to her – at least, nothing** ** _too_** **bad. (evil smile)**

 **No One Important:** **Hey, welcome back! I have already planned out Clove and Talon's entrance. I'm working hard on getting everyone's OCs in there, so Clove and Talon will be in the story. They won't appear for a while though.** **For the QOTD, I like ShadowClan a lot too, but not so much ThunderClan. It's annoying how they always get the attention in the books. I mean, why couldn't they focus on cats from other Clans too? I also find it annoying when they stereotype ShadowClan as the "bad" Clan.**

* * *

CHAPTER 7: AN UNWELCOME SURPRISE

Flamepaw's POV

A few days later, I met with Carpflight, Goldensun, and Silvermoon in the training hollow. Today was the day that Swanpaw, Waterpaw, and I would be given our first solo hunting mission.

"We will assign each of you a part of the territory in which you will practice hunting," Carpflight said. "We will be monitoring where you are at all times. Judging by how much you catch and how efficient you are, we will grade you based on that."

"Your test will be on land hunting," Goldensun said. "You are not allowed to catch any fish; if you do, you are automatically disqualified. Waterpaw, you hunt near ShadowClan territory. Stay as far away from the border as possible; as you can tell, we're not on good terms with them. Swanpaw, you will hunt closer to the Gathering island. Flamepaw, you hunt near the horseplace, towards the south border of our territory."

"Do you all understand what you have to do?" Silvermoon asked. We nodded. "Then start!"

I dashed off towards the horseplace. Once I had arrived, I looked around for anything I could find. Although I knew the horseplace was perfectly safe, it always gave me the chills to hunt around here.

When we were kits, Sassafrasstar had told us a story about how RiverClan and ThunderClan had formed an alliance against Flowerstar, leader of WindClan. They had fought against her but eventually had to surrender all of their territory. Even after that, they didn't lose hope. They managed to re-form the alliance and fight again with Flowerstar. Unfortunately, they lost again, and Sassafrasstar, Bluemist, Wildwater, Goldensun, Silvermoon, and Leopardheart were all taken as prisoner to the horseplace. It was there where Leopardheart had her epic battle with Flowerstar.

After the war, the horseplace was given back to RiverClan, but it still made me shudder to think that Flowerstar could capture my Clanmates like that. I hoped that would never happen again. Because of the dark history surrounding it, the horseplace was an area that I didn't particularly like.

I shook my head; I couldn't be thinking about this now. There was no way that I would let myself end up as the only apprentice that didn't pass the test. I crouched down and started looking around for prey.

I saw a squirrel sitting near a tree. I scanned its movements with watchful eyes and took slow steps closer. The wind was blowing towards me, which would make my life a lot easier. But just as I was about to pounce, my front right paw slid on a leaf. This startled the squirrel and it ran off before I could do anything.

I grunted in annoyance. This would never work. I would have to try a different tactic. What could I do? Maybe climb a tree and look for something. No, that would never work; no squirrel would be stupid enough to sit in a tree while a cat was climbing it.

I traveled around the horseplace, feeling more and more annoyed by the second. Where was I going to find anything? There didn't seem to be much prey around. Why did I have to get assigned the horseplace?

As I was looking around, I suddenly saw a mouse. It scampered across the ground and scuttled into the horseplace. I at once sprang to my paws and followed it.

It was dark and cold inside the den; I shuddered at the cool dampness. The horseplace felt cold and unwelcoming, as if it were still under Flowerstar's rule. But I couldn't let this one go. Walking as silently as possible, I followed the mouse's scent. Soon my eyes adjusted to the dark and I was able to see the mouse. When I had gotten close enough, I pounced and killed it quickly.

"That was my mouse."

My eyes snapped upwards, and I looked around. Who had said that?

"Well?" the voice said again. "Don't you have a tongue? Why did you take my mouse?"

"W-who are you?" I stammered, trying to see the cat who was speaking.

"I'm not telling you," he said boldly. He came closer, and I could make out the shadowy outline of a tom. "Now give me my mouse back."

I took a step back. "It's my mouse," I insisted. "I caught it. I don't know who you are, but you're on RiverClan territory. Leave immediately." I sounded braver than I felt.

"I forgot, you're one of those Clan cats," the tom laughed. "Well, too bad. I'll fight you for it." He turned around. "Willie, Kettle, come over here! You're needed!"

Two she-cats walked from the dark and sat on either side of the tom. "Jasper, what do you want?" the light brown she-cat whined. "And who is this?" She silted her eyes at me.

"Kettle," the tom purred, "this is one of those RiverClan cats. We need to teach him a lesson."

The gray she-cat – Willie – growled venomously. "RiverClan," she muttered. "The worst of them all."

I hastily dropped my mouse. "Look, you can have it," I said quickly. I knew that I wanted to pass the hunting test, but I kind of valued my life as well. There was no way that I would win a fight against these three.

"Too late," Jasper said, advancing on me. "Already made me angry."

I immediately turned around and ran, desperate to escape, but Willie was too fast. In a swift, fluid motion, she knocked me down and dug her claws into my back.

Suddenly I saw another cat come into the horseplace. "Flamepaw!" I heard Carpflight gasp. She shoved Willie off of me. "Spottedsky and I heard everything from outside. We're here to help you fight these three." I then saw Spottedsky run in. "I'll deal with her," she hissed, pointing to Kettle. "You get out of here and find reinforcements."

I nodded. I ran towards the entrance, but Jasper was quicker. He slammed his paw on my tail, forcing me to stop suddenly. "You're so weak, you need two she-cats to stand up for you," he sneered.

Carpflight glared at him. "That is the most sexist nonsense I have ever heard!" she roared. She pinned Willie down and raked her belly.

Jasper laughed. "Have you heard of Luke?" he asked.

I frowned. Who was he talking about?

"Luke is my leader," Jasper said. "He sent Willie, Kettle, and me to hunt in your territory. You see, you won't own this land for long."

"What do you mean?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Jasper asked, as if he couldn't be bothered to explain this to me. "We are going to own the lake."

"What?" I shrieked.

"You see," Jasper continued, "my cats have traveled for moons, looking for a good place to settle. Your lake is a very good place – there are few Nofurs around, and prey here is plentiful. Problem is, you guys own this land. But we can easily fix that."

I sprang to my paws. "No way! That is not happening!" There was no way that we would be forced out of our homes! I swiped my front claws at his face, but he easily dodged.

"Call that a fighting move?" he smirked. "I'll show you a real one." Before I could figure out what he was up to, he had whizzed out of the way. A second later, he had climbed onto my back and dug his claws into my shoulder.

"Bye bye, kit," he sneered, and hit me hard in the head.

And then the world went dark.

* * *

 **The drama seems to be picking up more now. Next chapter:**

 **\- We will see more of these mysterious cats Jasper talks about.**

 **\- We see Luke, the leader of these cats.**

 **AOTD: ****I would like to live in RiverClan, because they swim very well. This is why, as you can see, TRotR and TMotM are centered around RiverClan. I would also like to live in WindClan as a tunneler. SkyClan would be cool, since they climb trees and whatnot. I'm kind of indifferent towards ShadowClan and ThunderClan, though.**

 **QOTD:** **This one is a challenge. Without looking anything up, how many cheeses can you name?**


	9. Chapter 8: Luke

**Another chapter! As promised, here is the chapter where we see the leader of the Legion.**

 **Snowfall16: ****Okay, that makes sense. I'll be sure to follow that suggestion about not revealing all the plans so suddenly. Since this story is kind of about plot twists and a bit of mystery, that is something that I should follow. Ten cheeses? That's pretty good. I know a lot of cheeses… but I don't know Velveeta. What is that?**

 **Okatu Fernsneeze:** **You'll see more of Flamepaw next chapter. I've never tasted Stinky Cheddar Cheese, but I've had blue cheese and white cheddar. Yeah, the one with red dots is Pepper Jack. To me, it's a lot less spicy than it looks. I'm a cheese fanatic just as much as I'm a chocolate fanatic.**

 **No One Important:** **Jasper is such an evil kitty, isn't he? We've got plenty of evil kitties to deal with. And Flamepaw will appear next chapter, so we'll see how he's doing. About the fanart, that's really a generous offer. Now that I think of it, I actually need some cover-art for TMotM and TRotR. I like writing, but I'm no artist! Maybe you can do one of them, and I'll ask someone else to do the other. Is that okay with you?**

* * *

CHAPTER 8: LUKE

Whitepaw's POV

That afternoon was miserable. Sweetpaw came to visit me in the medicine den while I was applying cobwebs to Flamepaw's pelt.

"How's he doing?" she asked.

"He's been asleep since yesterday," I said. "Right now, it's hard to tell."

"He looks so badly hurt," she said softly. "How did Flamepaw get so many wounds?"

"Well, according to Spottedsky, Flamepaw was knocked unconscious by Jasper. Even after that, Jasper continued to attack him. Spottedsky and Carpflight were barely managing on their own, and could do nothing to help Flamepaw. Fortunately, a hunting patrol was coming nearby and saw what was happening. They defeated the three rouge cats and sent them off."

"Have you put cobwebs on Flamepaw's wounds?" Bluemist asked, coming in. He peered down to look at Flamepaw's pelt. "Good job," he praised. "I think we need some marigold for his scratches, though, to keep them from getting infected – StarClan, we're out of marigold." Bluemist cursed under his breath.

"Whitepaw and I can go looking for some," Sweetpaw said. "You just wait here."

"Thanks," Bluemist said gratefully. "Please, come back as fast as possible. We really need to get the marigold on Flamepaw's wounds." We headed out of the den and towards the camp entrance.

While we were walking, I noticed Harepaw walking by himself towards the RiverClan southern border. "What's he doing out here, by himself?" I whispered to Sweetpaw.

"I think Frostheart yelled at him this morning," Sweetpaw replied. "She must have decided she's not going to train with him today." Then she frowned. "I don't think they get along very well. I can't imagine why. Wildwater and I get along quite nicely. I know that Frostheart can be a bit bad-tempered at times, but she's a loyal warrior and should be nicer to her apprentice."

"I think it's just a personality clash," I said, though I couldn't really imagine why Frostheart would dislike Harepaw either. Bluemist and I got on well. _Aren't mentors supposed to like their apprentices?_

At dusk, we came near the abandoned horseplace. We headed towards the southern RiverClan border, where I showed Sweetpaw the marigold.

Suddenly, I felt Sweetpaw nudge me. "Look up," she whispered. Surprised, I turned my face in the direction she was indicating.

A group of cats were coming towards us. They all had shaggy pelts and dull fur. These cats looked like rouges.

"Run," I whispered to Sweetpaw, petrified.

"Oh come on," she said cheerfully. "Maybe they're friendly!"

They didn't look friendly to me. The group leader had sandy-colored fur and a nick in his ear, and his eyes had an aggressive, wild look to them.

"Hello, kittens," he said casually as he came closer.

"You're on our territory," one of his cats said coldly.

Sweetpaw made an indignant noise. "This is RiverClan territory!" she growled. "And we're not kittens. We're apprentices!"

"Shut up, Sweetpaw," I muttered.

The tom laughed, a shrill, cold noise. "It won't be RiverClan territory for long," he snickered, "so enjoy it while you can."

The group of cats surrounded us. There was nowhere to move; we were trapped. Sweetpaw finally seemed to realize we were in danger, and she shut her mouth.

"I'm Luke, leader of the Legion," the tom said. "You ain't going nowhere, Clan cats."

"What?" I gasped. "But we…"

"Shut up."

The group of rouges grabbed us. Sweetpaw was now crying. Well, whose fault was it that we were captured, anyways? If we hadn't have stayed to converse with these cats, none of this would have happened!

"Leave us alone!" she screeched. One she-cat clamped her paw over Sweetpaw's mouth.

Luke laughed. "You're coming with me," he said. "Don't even think about escaping back to your Clans!"

* * *

Shortly after that, Sweetpaw and I were separated and taken into abandoned Twoleg dens not far from RiverClan territory. This was clearly in the middle of nowhere; no Twoleg seemed to be around. I stood up and looked around my surroundings.

I was shut in a tiny space, where there was barely enough room for my tail. Brambles were crammed into the opening, leaving no possible escape route. The side facing towards me was made up of thorns, which meant that a cat would probably hurt himself badly before freeing himself. I tried to kick at the brambles, but only succeeded in getting my fur entwined around a thorn. When I tried to shove the thorn off, my right front paw started to bleed.

No matter how much I tried to push the brambles away, they kept getting caught in my fur. Eventually I gave up and sat down in a corner, my eyes closed.

I didn't know why they wanted me and Sweetpaw. The only thing I knew was that we had to escape soon. We couldn't let them keep us in here for long.

* * *

 **Kind of a short chapter, but oh well.**

 **For next chapter:**

 **\- Flamepaw has a strange dream.**

 **\- We see the reappearance of an old villain. (Any guesses as to which one?)**

 **AOTD: ****Aaaand here we have it! Um… Havarti Podlaski Mozzarella Asiago Romano Parmesan Swiss Pepper jack Muenster Provolone Colby jack Monterey jack Sharp cheddar Mild cheddar Gorgonzola White cheddar Paneer and my personal favorite… Lubelski!**

 **(If you're wondering, I did not include American cheese in this because I do not consider that disgraceful, oily** ** _thing_** **to be part of the cheese family)**

 **Did I mention I'm a cheese fanatic? I'm as crazy about cheese as I am about chocolate, maybe even more. These are all cheeses at the top of my head, I swear I didn't look any of them up.**

 **QOTD:** **Another challenge! How many vegetables can you name? (Same as before, without looking up any)**


	10. Chapter 9: Flamepaw's Visitor

**Another update coming up! Our villains are back, and just as evil as ever! One of them makes their first appearance pestering Flamepaw.**

 **Review replies:**

 **Snowfall16: ****You're up till midnight? I can't even stay up till ten without crashing! High school next year's going to be hard… If Velveeta is as fake as American cheese, it probably tastes just as bad. I don't like anything artificial, as you can see. I don't even like white chocolate, because it doesn't taste like actual chocolate!**

 **Okatu Fernsneeze:** **I've never had Allipino or Chinese celery, but I've had all the others. Our friend Waterkit the Prophet of StarClan will return. She won't have as much a role in this story though, and will only appear towards the end.**

 **No One Important:** **Actually, I was going to ask if you could include Eaglekit on the cover, because although he's in StarClan, he's still a major character. I was also wondering if Harepaw and Sweetpaw could be squeezed in, or is that too much? If they don't fit in, it'll be better not to squeeze them in. And could you add a rainbow on top? (I know that sounds cheesy XD) Beside all that, the dimensions have to be 600 x 800 (I believe 600 horizontal and 800 vertical, in pixels). If you post it online anywhere (such as DeviantArt or some other website), I can get it. Everything else is up to you.**

 **KittyNoaStar: ****Thanks! I looked up your BDFI character, and I laughed. Flower sounds like the perfect mean girl, doesn't she? From reading the Battle for Dream Island wiki, I thought of some differences between Flowerstar and Flower. Flower seems to be all-out mean. Flowerstar pretends to be sweet and cuddly, but has eeevil intentions. She reminds me of Umbridge from Harry Potter. XD I think of Flowerstar's voice as Lisa Ortiz from** ** _Winx Club_** **.**

 **I don't think I mentioned this before, but dream sections will not be italicized anymore. Just a heads up if any of you were wondering. On with the story!**

* * *

CHAPTER 9: FLAMEPAW'S VISITOR

Flamepaw's POV

The night after I was attacked by Jasper at the horseplace, I had a strange dream.

It started off in a peaceful forest where waterfalls tumbled down cliffs and birds sang. I sat down by the river and began washing my fur. It looked tangled, and badly needed a cleaning.

"Hello, Flamepaw."

I nearly jumped out of my pelt. A cream-colored tom was entering the scene. He had pale, glittering eyes, and broad shoulders.

"Who are you?" I demanded.

"Flamepaw," the tom said kindly, "you don't know me, do you?"

"Well, no," I replied. "That's kind of why I asked who you were."

The tom came over and smoothed my fur. I flinched and pulled away. What did he want?

"I'm going to ask you again, and this had better be the last time," I said, starting to feel angry. "Just tell me who you are or leave."

"My name is Sandfur," he said. "Flamepaw, I'm your father."

Well, that was unexpected.

All of my life, my father had been some distant figure, someone who I had even come to believe had never existed. But he was here, standing right in front of me.

"I'm not who you may think I am," he said. "Whatever Sassafrasstar may have told you, it's not true – "

"She didn't tell me a whole lot," I interrupted.

"What do you mean?" he asked. "Tell me."

I told Sandfur all about how she'd refused to tell me who my father was, how she seemed to think it would hurt me. I also told him how it seemed she never used to care for me. It always seemed as if she shoved me to the side just to make room for my other three siblings.

"She never wanted to have you," he said woodenly.

I flinched. "What do you mean?"

Sandfur sat down beside me. "You see, Flamepaw, when she was an apprentice, I fell in love with her," he said. "And she loved me back. But then she got pregnant with you."

"Then what happened?" I breathed, my voice barely a whisper.

"Then she didn't want anything to do with me," Sandfur said, his voice bitter. "She blamed me because you were born. One night, when we were out alone, she pushed over a few rocks, aiming them at me. She only meant to batter me with a few, but then the whole rockslide came tumbling down and I was crushed to death."

I gasped. "So that's how you ended up in StarClan?"

"No," Sandfur said. "I got sent to the Dark Forest. StarClan believed I forced her into having kits, when in truth no such thing happened. That is how I ended up banished from StarClan for something that was just as much Sassafrasstar's fault as mine."

My head spun. Somehow, I was starting to find his story hard to believe. He seemed to be talking in circles.

"Are you sure this story is true?" I said, narrowing my eyes. "From what I've heard, you don't just randomly get sent to the Dark Forest without having done something wrong."

Sandfur looked alarmed. "Are you saying you don't believe me?" He took a step closer. "I'm your father, Flamepaw. You must listen to me this instant – "

"If you really were a good father, you wouldn't be waiting until now to tell me this," I interrupted.

"You weren't old enough to know the truth!" he cried. "I didn't want you to know until now."

"Not interested." I turned away from him. "You're just as bad as Sassafrasstar. Both of you are only fit for telling lies."

Sandfur stared at me for a while; then his voice became dangerous. "You're going to regret this decision someday," he said, his voice shaking. "I'll make you regret – "

"Shut up!" I snarled at him, finally losing it. "I don't want to hear this. Get me out of here!"

"Fine," Sandfur snarled, turning around and disappearing into the trees. A moment later, the dream blurred away and I woke up in the medicine den.

"Flamepaw!" Sassafrasstar cried out. "Thank StarClan you're awake." She tried to nuzzle my head, but I drew away from her.

"Tell me this," I asked, staring at her in the eye. "Does the name Sandfur ring a bell?"

Sassafrasstar's eyes widened. She stared at me for a moment, not knowing what to say. Then her whiskers trembled, her lip quivered, and she started to cry.

* * *

 **After this, the chapters will get longer. Instead of having just one POV per chapter, we'll start seeing several. Next chapter is 2,718 words long, without the A/N. In addition to all our main characters, we'll start to see more of our… villains. (evil smile)**

 **AOTD: ****Here we go again! (deep breath) Celery, carrots, potatoes, zucchini, sweet potatoes, peas, asparagus, onions, spinach, string beans, chili peppers, cilantro, cucumber, eggplant, lettuce, cabbage, corn, broccoli, cauliflower, bell peppers, beets, alfalfa, arugula, and… okra!**

 **I think that's everything I know, but I probably left a lot out.**

 **QOTD: ****How many fruits can you name… no, I'm kidding. How about this: what is your favorite fruit?**

 **Till next time!**


	11. Chapter 10: Old and New Villains

**Some more bad guys are entering the spotlight today. And I'm sorry to say that they're going to get a certain StarClan kit involved…**

 **Okatu Fernsneeze:** **"** **Our True Prophet" LOL. Yeah, Sassafrasstar is such a liar, I can't say I like her too much in TRotR. She was way better in TMotM… but even then, she and Bluemist kind of always took up the spotlight. Um anyways, yeah, Sandfur is trying to gain control over his son. Thankfully he didn't fall for it. I generally prefer characters who can think for themselves too, as opposed to characters who are always in a group.**

 **No One Important:** **Hmmm… if the dimensions are too difficult, maybe you can put Eaglekit flying in the background? He's a StarClan cat so he can fly. Or have you figured it all out? In any case, I'd love to see both of your cover design layouts. Maybe you can give me two or three options, and I can decide which one is best. I'm also going into high school, and I really have no idea what job I want to pursue either. Let's just say that middle school didn't teach us anything except how to deal with annoying teachers.**

 **Snowfall16: ****I like strawberries too, but the only problem with berries (except blueberries) is that they're kind of a gamble. You don't really know which one is sweet until you eat it. Even red strawberries aren't always very sweet. Blackberries are the worst; half are sweet and half are sour. But I still do enjoy berries, and all other kinds of fruit.**

* * *

CHAPTER 10: OLD AND NEW VILLAINS

Flamepaw's POV

Sassafrasstar told me the whole story from beginning to end. I stood patiently, not interrupting at any point. I could see that Sandfur hadn't completely made up the story. He _had_ been killed by a rockslide. But from Sassafrasstar's point of view, she had only killed him after he attacked her.

"How did you find out about Sandfur?" she asked.

I hesitated. I didn't want to tell Sassafrasstar about Sandfur coming to me in a dream. That would probably freak her out.

"A StarClan cat came to me in a dream," I said. "She told me what happened. She didn't explain the full story, because that was something you were supposed to tell me. But she did tell me some of the basic information. She, um, also didn't mention her name."

Sassafrasstar's eyes clouded with pain. "I see." She came closer to me, and nuzzled me. I flinched, but she held on tight.

"Now listen up," Sassafrasstar said. "I know I haven't paid much attention to you or your siblings ever since Eaglekit's death, and I'm very sorry about that. But do not think for a second that you were unwanted. Unplanned for, yes, but not unwanted. Do you think I planned for being to be the foster mother of four other kits? The night she died, Purpleflower told me I was to take care of your siblings as well. So don't think I never cared for any of you. You're all very important to me."

This was a long and heartfelt speech. At the end of it, I felt my eyes swimming with tears. I forced them away and looked gratefully at my mother.

"Thank you," I whispered. I would never forget this day. Although this hadn't changed everything, it took a huge load off of my heart seeing that she cared.

* * *

 _That evening_

Eaglekit's POV

Although I knew I'd made the right choice in telling Flamepaw we couldn't see each other anymore, I still felt miserable. I missed Flamepaw terribly. Every day, I woke up thinking, _today is the day I'm going to see Flamepaw again._ And then I remembered.

I paced around in my den. I knew Flamepaw would eventually get over me. He would one day live happily in RiverClan, possibly finding a mate and kits. He would be able to live a successful life as a warrior of RiverClan.

But what about me?

Would I spend moons in StarClan waiting for Flamepaw to join me, or would I be able to move on? It seemed impossible this would ever happen. I felt so much pain at the thought of what I'd just done.

 _Well, it's done now_ , I thought to myself. _You can't take it back._

I wished I had never died. Wished that evil rouge had never killed me – I stopped myself from thinking too negatively. One of the rules of StarClan was to never hate the cats who killed you – even if it were for an unjust reason. They say negative thinking leads to bitterness, and bitterness leads to rebellion.

A sudden tapping on my den's walls made me jump. "Come in," I said, pawing at the ground.

Darkshadow entered. "Are you all right, Eaglekit?" he asked. "You've been abnormally quiet for a few days. I just wanted to see you."

"I'm fine," I said, forcing a smile.

"No, you aren't," Darkshadow said as he walked closer to me and sat down on my moss bed. "Tell me what the matter is."

"I just miss Flamepaw," I replied truthfully. My whiskers involuntarily crossed at the thought of him.

Darkshadow nodded. "I can understand that," he said. "I missed Sandfur terribly when he died. But you have to move on, Eaglekit. He's in RiverClan and you're in StarClan. It's as simple as that."

"But it's not that simple," I protested. "I keep trying that, and I keep missing him."

"Well, for starters, go out a little more," Darkshadow said with a smile. "You can't just stay in this den. Why don't you head on over to Silverpelt and join a game of moss-ball?"

I hesitated. I wanted nothing more than to stay in this den, feeling sorry for myself. But Darkshadow was right. I did need to get out a bit more.

"All right, if you insist," I said, heading towards the exit and walking out towards Silverpelt.

* * *

Silverpelt is a land of beauty. Rolling hills, blue rivers, and green forests cover the land. Many cats come out here to socialize and to hunt. Of course, since dead cats don't need food to stay alive, seeing as we're already dead, food is simply an amenity. But there is never a shortage of prey.

It is a common misconception made by Clan cats that the entire sky is Silverpelt. In reality, Silverpelt only makes up a small part of the sky. There are other parts of StarClan; the Dream Den, which is located on the moon, the Meeting Grove for the council, located near the sun, and the tunnels, which you have to go to in order to get to other skies. Other skies include the Tribe of Endless Hunting, SkyClan's Gorge, the Golden Park, which belongs to kittypets, and the Forest of Dreams, which belongs to loners. However, Silverpelt is the main part of StarClan, where most of us spend our time.

I found a group of cats in the forested hills playing moss-ball. Although many living cats consider moss-ball to be a kits' game, it is a game in StarClan enjoyed by many. There is really no social conduct when it comes to our ranks. There is no such rule as to how apprentices are supposed to behave, or how elders should be treated. Every cat, regardless of what they were when they were alive, is considered of equal status.

At least, that's the way it's supposed to be.

"Hey Eaglekit! Come over and play," I heard Berrypaw yowl. She was a friendly WindClan apprentice who had died from greencough. Her friends, Littleclaw of ThunderClan and Tinypaw of ShadowClan, were with her.

"Sure," I grinned. We divided into two teams: Berrypaw with Tinypaw and me with Littleclaw. We then started to play.

I was pretty pathetic at moss-ball, and today was no exception. I was very clumsy and often tripped over my paws. Berrypaw and Tinypaw screamed with laughter as I threw the moss-ball into a nearby bush instead of into their goal.

By the end of the night, I'd managed to trip over a stone, dirty my fur, get soaked after falling in a nearby river, and throw the moss-ball into Littleclaw's and my own goal. Everyone was laughing at me so hard, I couldn't help laughing myself.

"Look, there's the sun coming up," Tinypaw said finally, after noticing the sun in the east. "We should be going to bed."

Around us, cats were also yawning and flying away towards their dens. We said bye to each other, and the other three cats flew away. I was about to follow them when I heard pawsteps. I saw a she-cat walking towards the west, with three birds in her mouth.

What was she doing? It was not uncommon for cats to stay in Silverpelt and enjoy a meal, but three birds? Who ate three birds for one meal? I decided to investigate. Carefully concealing myself on the forest floor, I followed her. We soon reached the western edge of Silverpelt, very close to the border of StarClan.

I suddenly realized that we were in the darkest area of StarClan. No one ever comes here – and I _mean_ no one. Even the warriors were scared of this place.

What was _I_ doing here, anyways? Why did I have to come to the most forbidden area of StarClan? But I was curious about what the she-cat was doing. Anyways, it was too late for me to turn back.

The she-cat stood at the edge of a creek, her ears pricked as if she were waiting for someone. With a jolt, I realized the narrow stream she was standing by separated two worlds – StarClan and the Dark Forest.

The other side looked absolutely miserable. The Dark Forest was made up of rotted trees, dark fog, and carried a foul smell. It looked disgusting compared to the beauty of StarClan.

The silver she-cat placed down the three birds. And waited. Until, on the other side, I saw three cats emerging from the fog.

As they got closer, I could make out a ginger tom and a cream-colored tom. The ginger's head was drooped and the cream's nostrils flared in anger. Between the two toms stood a brown she-cat. Unlike the toms, her head was raised high, and she had a proud, arrogant look on her face.

I gasped. So this was who the prey was for. Why was this she-cat feeding three Dark Forest cats? Didn't she know they were criminals?

"Hello, Featherheart," the brown she-cat purred. "Thank you for the food." She looked at the ginger tom, who was tearing up his bird. "Really, Orangefoot, one would think you had no manners. You're acting like you've never seen food before."

Orangefoot flashed her a look of annoyance. "You're not my mother, Flowerstar."

The cream-colored tom said nothing. He had a calm, calculated look on his face. But suddenly he stiffened.

"I sense someone else's presence," he said. "Someone you could call… unfavorable."

Featherheart gasped. "Who is here?" she demanded. "Who dares eavesdrop on our meeting? Show yourself!"

I stayed hidden the bushes, now terrified. I couldn't turn and leave, or they'd find me. If I flew away, they would see me and catch up in two seconds. If I ran, they would hear it. I had no option but to stay where I was.

"Not going to show yourself, eh?" Orangefoot sneered. "Don't worry. We'll find you."

The four cats looked around. For a while, they were still searching and shouting at each other to find me. I began to let my guard down a bit. "It doesn't look like Dark Forest cats are particularly smart," I whispered to myself.

"I heard that," Flowerstar shouted, and suddenly she was standing right in front of me. "Sandfur, Orangefoot, Featherheart," she sang, "I think I found someone."

 _Sandfur?_ I knew that name. Sandfur was the name of the tom who had attacked Sassafrasstar because she was born from rouge parents. What was I doing here, standing near one of the worst criminals in Clan history? _I should never have come here._

The three of them came running forwards as Flowerstar pushed the fern back. I stood trembling, but glared defiantly up at her. I was terrified, but knew that I couldn't show such weakness to these cats.

"Well, what have we here?" Flowerstar said mockingly. "A little kit, perhaps? But why would a kit want to spy on us?" Her voice was harsh and cruel, but had an air of false sweetness to it. She picked me up.

"I'm not a kit," I said. "And let me go." I hoped that didn't sound as pathetic as I thought it did.

Flowerstar laughed a high-pitched, cold laugh. Orangefoot and Featherheart roared with laughter. Sandfur stayed where he was, a shrewd look on his face.

"How sweet," Flowerstar trilled. "All right, if you insist, I'll let you go."

She dropped me on the ground, from an alarming height. I squealed as I slammed into the ground; Orangefoot and Featherheart laughed again.

I got up and glared at Flowerstar. "Oh, I'm definitely going to tell the StarClan council about this," I snarled. "Just wait until they find out a StarClan cat has been feeding three Dark Forest cats." I looked straight at Featherheart.

The smile wiped off of her face, and she glared at me. "You wouldn't."

"Oh yes, I would." I had no intention of letting this go. If Flowerstar thought that she was going to get away with abuse, then she could think again.

"If you even think about it," Orangefoot hissed, "I'll see you rot in _hell_."

"You have to try harder than that," I said boldly, lifting my chin up. I hoped they wouldn't notice my legs shaking.

"What he means is," Sandfur interrupted, "there are reasons why you shouldn't tell on us, Eaglekit."

"How do you know my name?" I demanded, glaring at Sandfur.

"I have been watching you and your siblings for moons," he said.

"What do you mean, you watched us?"

"I know your mother personally," Sandfur said simply. "Your mother Sassafrasstar, I mean. I just check on her kits every so often."

 _The nerve of this tom!_ I thought furiously. "How dare you? You have no right to spy on living cats. Leave my siblings alone, and don't even think about spying on them ever again."

"And how do you plan on stopping us from doing that?" Flowerstar laughed.

Sandfur silenced her with a flick of his tail. "I'll handle this, Flowerstar."

Flowerstar stopped, surprised, and Orangefoot gave me a resentful look. I could tell he didn't like my intervention in this at all.

"I know you don't trust me, Eaglekit," Sandfur said calmly. "And I don't deny what I have done. I regret the mistakes I made in life. We all do. If you will listen to what I have to say, then maybe you'll understand. The four of us are working together to find a way to bring dead cats back to life."

"That isn't possible."

"We're working on making it possible," Sandfur said. "You miss Flamepaw, don't you?" I nodded. "Well, if you helped us," Sandfur continued on, "we would help bring you back to life and be reunited with Flamepaw."

"You can't," I said, backing away in alarm. "No cat can do that. Besides, my place is in StarClan. I don't belong in the living world."

Sandfur let out a ripple of laughter. "StarClan actually fed you this nonsense," he wept. "I can't believe it." Turning back to face me, he added, "How does a kit like you belong anywhere _but_ the living world? Answer this honestly: do you wish to be reunited with your brother?"

"Yes, but – "

"Then you should be," Sandfur said firmly. "That's all there is to it. The reason why we are working on getting back to the Clans is so that we can make up for all the mistakes we made in life. We want to go back to our Clans as warriors who can be remembered as heroes, not villains. If you join us, and help us with our plans, we will get you a place in RiverClan again. Is that a fair trade?"

I had to say, that did sound appealing. Maybe these cats weren't so bad after all.

If they really did regret their mistakes, then they should be given a second chance. I've always thought StarClan should give more cats second chances. If you regret killing someone, but get sent to the Dark Forest anyways, you stay there for eternity. What about the cats who were justified in killing another cat? Where do they go?

Sandfur had gotten me thinking. What about me? Why should I have to sit in StarClan when my siblings got to live life as apprentices? That didn't sound fair to me. I should get a chance at life too.

"That sounds like a good plan," I said. "I'd like to help."

"Great!" Sandfur said brightly. "I think that should be all for today," he said to Featherheart. "You should go now, or your absence might be noticed."

"But we didn't even get a chance to discuss our plans," Featherheart protested.

"Oh, we'll talk about that later," Orangefoot grumbled, shooting me a look of dislike.

"Goodbye Eaglekit," Flowerstar said sweetly, but her eyes were sharp like claws as she stared at me.

As we were walking back, I suddenly had a doubt. _If these Dark Forest cats have really changed for the better, then why are they so mean?_ I thought about how Flowerstar had lifted me up and dropped me onto the ground, and how rude Orangefoot had been the entire time.

 _They were probably just annoyed because you intruded on their plans_ , another voice in my head said. _They must have thought you were some StarClan cat who was going to tell on them. They didn't realize you would be able to help._

Orangefoot and Flowerstar would come around, I was sure of it. Even Featherheart was not that bad. Sandfur had been very nice to me. I knew he'd be able to convince the others that I was a helpful addition in their plans.

Breaking into a smile, I raced back to the world of StarClan, looking forward to a restful night.

* * *

 **Aww, Eaglekit, you poor, naïve little thing… Is he now a villain, or will he become a hero? I'll leave that up for you guys to decide.**

 **AOTD: ****I like cherries. And I like watermelon, kiwi, mango… Okay, I'm talking too much. I generally like most fruit (except canned ones) except for one: banana. I absolutely cannot stand bananas. They taste and smell mushy and disgusting.**

 **QOTD: ****What do you prefer to write in, first or third person?**


	12. Author's Note

AUTHOR'S NOTE

 **shadowfrost: ****I just don't like bananas, so it seems we'll have to disagree on that. Yeah, Eaglekit is just raging with cuteness, isn't he? Hey, thanks for the compliment, but what exactly do you like about TRotR?**

 **No One Important:** **About the artwork, there is something important I need to ask. I want to recognize you, but I don't want to tell everyone 'No One Important' did the cover art for me. That's just mean. Do you have another name you can go by? Also, you're by no means a c***-bag for wanting Eaglekit to be a villain. It's your opinion on the character and it's fine by me.**

 **Snowfall16: ****Sorry to hear you're sick, feel better! Yeah, that does make sense. If you tend to forget the character's name in through the chapter, it might be better to use third person. First person might also be better if you're just with one character. I use first mainly because it brings out the character's thoughts more, but it's limited in the way that it only talks about the specific character whose POV you're in.**

* * *

 **Okay, the reason why I'm posting this A/N is because of some recovery issues. I was writing it yesterday, and then suddenly Word stopped responding. I closed the window and re-opened Word. When I did, TRotR showed up on the Recovery window. I clicked on it, but then it said, "File could not be found."**

 **Then I went to the folder it was in, but it was deleted off of that. It wasn't in the Recycle Bin either. As a last resort, I tried to run some software which could recover permanently deleted files, but it didn't work. It's so strange, it's as if TRotR was cleanly wiped off. It's just not there.**

 **Luckily, I made a backup of my files, but since it was a week ago, I lost the last eight chapters of what I've written, which amounts to thirty pages (about one-fourth of the story).**

 **This will most likely not affect update schedules, because I have about ten-twenty chapters buffer before we reach that point. However, I won't be writing new chapters as frequently as before (I'm planning a humor fic, I'll get to explaining that), so this is a heads-up if I do run out of chapters.**

 **About the humor fic. I won't give too many details away, because I'm going to post it right now. It's going to only be about ten-fifteen chapters long, so it shouldn't affect TRotR too much. I'm just so annoyed about losing all those chapters, I feel like a need a short break from TRotR.**

 **Anyways, that's it for now. :) See you around.**


	13. Chapter 11: ShadowClan Tension

**Previously on TRotR:**

 **"'** **I'm Luke, leader of the Legion," the tom said. 'You ain't going nowhere, Clan cats.'**

 **'** **What?' I gasped.**

 **'** **Leave us alone!' Sweetpaw screeched.**

 **Luke laughed. 'You're coming with me. Don't even think about escaping back to your Clans!'"**

* * *

 **No One Important:** **Yeah, it sucks losing all that writing. On the bright side, I re-wrote a few of the missing chapters yesterday. I'd really like to see the story you're working on! Is it also about warriors, or is it a different fandom? Also, are you finished with the cover-art, or do you still need more time? (It's fine if you're still working on it, I don't mind)**

 **KittyNoaStar:** **I haven't watched BDFI before, but maybe I'll check out an episode or two to see what it's about. I tried the link you showed me, but nothing came up. Could you find a different link or something?**

* * *

CHAPTER 11: SHADOWCLAN TENSION

Harepaw's POV

By now, there was some confusion about Sweetpaw and Whitepaw. No one remembered seeing them; in fact, they hadn't been seen at all since last afternoon. Sassafrasstar was really worried. "I should have found out sooner," she said.

"It's all right," Silvermoon had consoled her. "We'll find them. You have too many things on your mind."

Bluemist and I were sent to ask ShadowClan if they'd seen the two. The reason why only we were going was because we would not be seen as a threat by ShadowClan, who was currently our enemy. He was a medicine cat and I was an apprentice.

"Stay close to me," Bluemist warned me. "The last time I took an apprentice into another Clan's territory, they were captured. I don't want that to happen again."

I knew he was referring to Sassafrasstar. When the two of them were apprentices and had been sent into enemy territory, they'd been captured by Flowerstar.

We walked silently along the lakeside for a while, until a pinkish-gray ShadowClan cat noticed us. "What are you doing here?" she snapped. "Bluemist, I can understand why you're here. You're a medicine cat and have the right to cross into other cats' territory. But why is _he_ here?" She pointed at me.

"Hi Roseleaf," Bluemist said pleasantly. "We are within two fox-lengths of the border, so we are in neutral territory. Besides, we only wanted to pass on a message from Sassafrasstar. We mean no harm."

"This had better be some message," Roseleaf muttered, but nevertheless beckoned us to follow.

She led us to the ShadowClan camp. When we reached it, Darkstar was standing near his den, glaring at us. "What is a warrior apprentice doing here, especially one from RiverClan?" he snarled.

"Hello Darkstar," Bluemist said respectfully. "We have a message from Sassafrasstar. And don't worry, Harepaw doesn't mean any harm."

"What is it?" Darkstar barked.

"Two of our apprentices went missing," Bluemist explained, "Whitepaw and Sweetpaw. We were wondering if you'd seen them."

Darkstar shrugged. "I have no clue what happened to your apprentices. My advice is to tighten camp security. Now get lost."

"Thank you," Bluemist said, turning to leave.

"And don't come back here again!" Darkstar yelled after us. "Smokepelt, Rainstorm, escort them to the border, please."

Several cats looked at us with contempt. They obviously still thought we had murdered Featherheart. Two ShadowClan toms got up and followed us.

"You'll have to excuse Darkstar," the one named Rainstorm said awkwardly. "He's still grieving for Featherheart."

"He's a very nice cat, once you get to know him," Smokepelt added.

I couldn't imagine ever wanting to know him! "Thanks," I said anyways.

"We've reached the border," Bluemist interrupted. "Thank you for escorting us."

The two toms nodded and raced off.

Sassafrasstar was shocked when she found out that we had little success. I was worried as well. Would I ever see my sister again?

* * *

Waterpaw's POV

That night, I made my way to the island to see Turtlepaw again. I was climbing a hill when I heard a loud thud. Turning around, I saw Turtlepaw slowly rising to her feet, glaring at the tree root she had just tripped over.

"What are you doing here?" I hissed. "You're not supposed to be on RiverClan territory! We're only supposed to meet at the island!"

"Sorry," she apologized. "But you were late and I came looking for your camp."

"Oh, okay," I conceded. "Anyways, how have you been doing?"

She shrugged. "Fine. What about you?"

"Not too good," I said. "My brother, Flamepaw, got attacked by some rouge cats. He has it pretty bad. And then one of my other brothers, Whitepaw, and another Clanmate, Sweetpaw, disappeared without a trace."

"I'm so sorry," she sympathized. "I wish there was some way I could help."

"Thanks," I murmured. Suddenly, I realized something. "Actually, there is a way," I said. "When you're going back home, don't go anywhere near the horseplace. That's where my brother got attacked."

"Okay," she said confidently. "Don't worry, I won't let any rouge come near me!" She flicked her tail importantly.

At her words, I suddenly felt a warm spark in my chest. What was it? I decided to ignore it and just sat beside Turtlepaw.

"Hey," she said suddenly. "I know a game we can play!"

"What?" I asked.

"Race you to the willow tree!" she yelled. And before I could stop her, she had bounded halfway across the marsh.

"Hey!" I yelled, running after her. Between puffs and pants, I yelled, "You were born a WindClan cat! You're faster! And besides, you got a head start!" But it was too late. Turtlepaw had already reached the tree and stood next to it, grinning at me.

"I win!" she yelled triumphantly.

"Maybe you can win this, but let's see if you can swim!" I shouted at her. I gracefully dove into a nearby stream and happily swam across in a quick, fluid motion.

"Oh no," Turtlepaw said nervously. "I couldn't" –

In response, I pushed her into the stream. I could hear her screams as I playfully ducked her under the surface. "Stop it, you fish-face!"

"What did you just call me?" I asked, staring at her with mock hurt.

"Fish-face!" she repeated.

"If I'm a fish-face, you're a fish-brain," I retorted.

She was about to say something back when suddenly, a strong scent wafted through the air. It was strongly of pine and earth.

"What is that?" I gasped.

"Keep your voice down!" she hissed. "It's cat-scent." Before I could stop her, she was running to the top of the hill.

"Wait!" I called, climbing out of the water and chasing her to the top. Looking down, towards the marshes, I saw something that I didn't want to see. "But… that's…"

"I know," Turtlepaw said grimly. "I could tell as soon as I smelled them. It's the scent of a ShadowClan invasion.

* * *

Swanpaw's POV

I suddenly woke up to feel someone shaking me. I heard Lightsky hiss, "Get up. ShadowClan invasion!"

I immediately bolted to my paws and helped him wake everyone else. Heronpaw and Greenpaw were chattering excitedly, anticipating the battle. "Oh, cool! A battle!" Greenpaw was saying. "I can't wait!"

I glared at him. How dare he be excited? The Clan was in jeopardy, with Sweetpaw and Whitepaw's disappearance, and with Flamepaw being attacked. The last thing we needed was threats from ShadowClan.

"Get up!" Lightsky hissed at everyone. "The Clan needs your help!"

Everyone ran out. We were supposed to help the kits, queens, elders, and medicine cats up to the Lakeledge, where they'd be out of the way of the fighting. I didn't get why they needed us to help them. What made them so special that they couldn't go up the Lakeledge themselves?

Nonetheless, I made my way over to Dappleflower, one of the queens. She was having a tough time with her only kit, Mistkit.

"But I want to help," Mistkit whined. "What's going on? Why can't I even watch the battle?"

"You're way too curious for your own good," I snapped. "And you're too little to be fighting. Now get on that ledge."

"That's not fair!" Mistkit cried back.

"You'll get your chance," Dappleflower said kindly. "Trust me, you don't want to fight."

Mistkit looked as if she were about to argue, but decided against it. She reluctantly followed the other kits up the ledge.

Mistkit wasn't the only one upset. Briarthorn had to practically shove Ravenkit up the Lakeledge to safety. He didn't fuss like Mistkit, but I could tell he was upset, because he stomped the entire way. Well, too bad. We apprentices had to wait our turn; why couldn't they?

Carpflight and Bluemist were both supporting Flamepaw, helping him to climb the Lakeledge. I saw his wounds were still open, but they seemed to be healing rapidly. He was able to walk up the Lakeledge, though not as fast as he normally would have.

After I helped the others, I joined the fighting. A large ginger tom suddenly blocked my way. "You're not going anywhere," he sneered. A she-cat joined him, blocking my other way out.

I was trapped.

"You mole-brained RiverClanners need to be taught a lesson," the she-cat said. "One of you murdered Featherheart. How dare you come near us? You" –

"For the last time, none of us touched Featherheart!" I yelled. "We didn't even know who she was until now! So stop blaming us for everything and go and find some other Clan to pick on."

The she-cat's eyes narrowed. "Right," she said, and from her tone, I could tell that this was headed for trouble. "Let's get her," she said to the tom.

Suddenly, a big brown ball of fur soared through the air. It was Harepaw. "You leave Swanpaw alone!" he roared. "Go find some cat your size to pick on!"

I dove towards the tom. Soon we were in a tangle of claws and teeth. He aimed a kick at my shoulder, but I dodged and delivered a blow on his legs. Although he was massive, I could tell that the tom was an apprentice, by the way he was fighting. He tripped, and his jaw smacked straight into a tree root, causing it to bleed quite heavily. He yowled and ran off to Pinefur, his medicine cat.

"Uh, thanks," I muttered to Harepaw, still in shock. How had he managed to find me so easily?

"Well, you saved me before," he replied, "so it looks like I made the score even."

I rolled my eyes. I was grateful to Harepaw, but he was still annoying. I hadn't even done anything special. He would have done the same for me.

"ShadowClan, you have lost," Sassafrasstar yowled. "Get out of here!"

The ShadowClan cats glared at Sassafrasstar, but they had no choice. It was clear that the battle had taken a toll on them. One by one, they stomped towards the exit of the camp and headed for home.

We watched them go. After the adrenaline of battle, I suddenly felt tired and wanted to go to sleep. But then I heard a shout.

"Sassafrasstar!" Brindlefire yelled. "Where is he?"

"Where is who?" Sassafrasstar asked, confused.

"Goldensun," Brindlefire replied. "He's not here anymore. ShadowClan must have taken him as prisoner!"

We searched all around the camp until sunrise, hoping to find him somewhere. But it was no use. Goldensun was gone.

* * *

 **Ooh, what happened to Goldy? He's going to be gone for a while, unfortunately. We won't see him for a while.**

 **AOTD:** **I've always written in first person, but I've started a story in third and actually found that I like it. I guess first person is better for making your character's viewpoints come out more, but third is better for description and more mysterious stories. In the beginning, I did consider writing TMotM in third, but then I rapidly lost interest, probably because I was kind of used to first person and thought it would be better for my characters.**

 **QOTD:** **On a scale of one to ten, how much do you hate Darkstar right now?**


	14. Chapter 12: This Means War

**No One Important:** **This is awesome! And I really do mean that, trust me. I do have a few requests, though. Maybe you can put a rainbow arching in the top, behind Eaglekit and the evil spirit-cats? I also have another request, which is larger. I was wondering if you could make cover-art for TMotM as well? For that one, there could be mist on the side and the characters in the middle, or something like that.**

 **Okatu Fernsneeze:** **I agree with you. Darkstar may be upset, but his actions are inexcusable. I don't hate him too much either, I actually find his insane personality funny and interesting to write about. And I feel bad for him for losing Featherheart as well. Let's hope he becomes better!**

 **KittyNoaStar: ****Unfortunately, I couldn't watch BDFI because of a certain green-screen issue. (glares at YouTube) I don't know how to solve it, but will work on it and get back to you. I liked Bluestar a lot (I actually wrote a rant about her and Thistleclaw, go check it out). She was a good leader. Mistystar I'm kind of neutral about. I thought she was a good warrior, but an average leader.**

* * *

CHAPTER 12: THIS MEANS WAR

Waterpaw's POV

"Don't jump to conclusions. How can you know for sure?"

"How can I know for sure? It's obvious! ShadowClan took him!"

My listening was crudely interrupted by a sharp nudge by my sister. "Stop fidgeting! I'm trying to see what's going on!" Swanpaw snapped at me.

It was sunhigh, and two days after the ShadowClan invasion. Swanpaw and I stood outside Sassafrasstar's den, listening to her arguing with Leopardheart. We were listening through a gap in the bramble thicket which her den was made of.

"Well I'm sorry Your Highness, but I need to hear too," I growled. We wanted to find out what Sassafrasstar's plan was. We were so sick and tired of waiting for Sassafrasstar to make a decision.

"Well, I agree with Sassafrasstar," Swanpaw said. "ShadowClan obviously took Goldensun. Anyone who disagrees is _stupid_."

I agreed with Swanpaw, but her tone of voice annoyed me. Why did she have to say everything so rudely?

"Come on, I'm just as annoyed as you are," Leopardheart said, "but we can't just barge in there and demand them to hand Goldensun over."

"This is not up for debate," Sassafrasstar said firmly. "That is exactly what I'm going to do. As a matter of fact, I'm going to announce it right now."

We heard the two she-cats coming out of the den and quickly ran down the back of the Lakeledge. Sassafrasstar stood on the Lakeledge and yowled for everyone's attention. "May all cats old enough to swim gather around the Lakeledge for a Clan meeting!"

Pretty soon, everyone surrounded the ledge. "I have decided to lead a patrol into ShadowClan to make them give us Goldensun," Sassafrasstar said. "Brindlefire, Badgerfoot, Carpflight, Spottedsky, Volewhisker, Crowtalon, Wildwater, and Waterpaw will come with me."

On the left side of me, Wildwater frowned uncertainly. "But Sassafrasstar, we can't just barge in there like that," she said. "We don't know if they even have Goldensun."

Sassafrasstar lashed her tail. "There is overwhelming evidence they have him!" she yowled. "And we are going to make them pay!"

I nodded approvingly. I agreed ShadowClan should pay. But Sassafrasstar seemed to have changed into an entirely different cat. Before, she would always handle problems calmly and diligently. Now, it seemed as if the stress of losing three cats in one moon, threats from ShadowClan, and Flamepaw's injury caused her to have lost it.

"Let's go," Sassafrasstar said, leaping off of the Lakeledge. The rest of us followed.

* * *

Soon we reached ShadowClan's camp. Sassafrasstar marched up to Darkstar and growled, "What have you done with my deputy?"

"What are you doing here?" Darkstar demanded. "What is your _problem_?"

"You stole Goldensun from us," Sassafrasstar snarled. "Give him back right now!"

"How dare you accuse me and my Clan of something we didn't do?"

"Oh yeah, like you didn't falsely accuse us?" Badgerfoot hissed at Darkstar. He was silenced by a glare from Volewhisker.

I felt furious. How dare Darkstar be so rude? We had every right to invade, considering he'd just done the exact same to us!

"I have nothing to do with Goldensun's whereabouts," Darkstar said. "I have no clue where he is."

"But he disappeared right after you left my camp," Sassafrasstar pointed out. "And I think you took Sweetpaw and Whitepaw too!"

"That doesn't prove anything," Darkstar said. "I wish I could help you, but I can't."

His tone seemed genuine and his words were actually quite convincing. I saw a few of my Clanmates look as if they were swayed by his words. I began to doubt whether or not he had Goldensun.

But Sassafrasstar still held her ground. "This… Means… War." Turning around, she added, "Get your Clan ready for battle."

And with that, we marched out of ShadowClan's camp.

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

Whitepaw's POV

I don't know how long I've been stuck here. Judging by the fact that a guard just came to deliver me food, I'd say today marks the second day in confinement. It must be sunrise by now.

Suddenly, I heard a discontented growl. A tom was groaning, "Took all night to get this one to cooperate. I want my rest."

"I'll take it from here," the other guard said. He grabbed the newcomer and shoved him – or her – into another stall, the one to the left of me. Then the guard resumed his position to the front.

"Hey, who are you?" I asked.

There was a surprised pause. Then… "Whitepaw? You're here?"

I gasped. "Goldensun? That was you?"

"Yes."

My eyes widened. "But… why? Did they capture you too?"

"No, I willingly came here on my own accord," Goldensun snapped sarcastically. "Yes, I was captured." He lowered his voice so the guards wouldn't hear. "It was in the middle of last night, and I was on guard duty. Suddenly I heard these idiots coming towards me. One of them grabbed me; the other clamped a cobweb over my mouth so I couldn't speak. I wrestled and fought the entire way, but eventually they managed to bring me here."

"Sweetpaw and I were brought here too," I said. "Some cat named Luke forced us to come."

"Luke is the leader of all of these cats," Goldensun said. "I don't know what they want with us."

"Luke said something about owning our territory," I said. "Maybe they want to capture some of us, which would weaken our Clan, and then capture our territory."

Goldensun's eyes widened. "You could be right. We have to get out of here, and quickly."

* * *

Flowerstar's POV

I walked across the Dark Forest, staring at the ground. At first, I had been mad because Sandfur had included Eaglekit in our plans. But then I realized he was right. When Orangefoot and I confronted Sandfur about what he did, he answered calmly, saying if he hadn't told Eaglekit of the plan, Eaglekit would've gone to the StarClan council and told on us. Sandfur also pointed out that he didn't tell Eaglekit the whole plan; only a very small part of it. After all, Eaglekit didn't know the reason why we wanted to go back to life.

Walking through the forsaken woods, I soon came to a cave-like structure, built out of fallen trees and thick smog. Sandfur and Orangefoot had spent moons building it and using Featherheart's powers to activate it. Right now, this den was feeding on Featherheart's magic and growing more and more powerful by the minute. It was affectionately called the Nightmare Den, named after the Dream Den back in StarClan.

We were going to use the Nightmare Den to go back to life. Featherheart told us a story of a cat named Cinderpelt, who, years ago, was given a chance at a second life. It was an extremely rare offer and she accepted it right away. Cinderpelt used the power of the Dream Den to go back to life. In the same way, our plan was to use the Nightmare Den to build a portal to the Clans.

There were only two problems with this plan.

The first problem was because of Featherheart. After exiling Sandfur, Orangefoot and me, the StarClan council passed a new degree, saying that they would wipe memories of any cat who committed a felony against the Clans, so that they wouldn't remember how they died. This is to prevent any possible revenge plans or mutiny. Thankfully, the degree didn't affect me and my Dark Forest friends, because we were exiled before the motion was passed. So Featherheart doesn't actually know who killed her; all she knows is that someone killed her and she wants revenge. She does remember the crime she committed against the Clans. She's not a full member of StarClan, since she did do something. Apparently, the crime was traitorous enough to get her in trouble, but not bad enough to get exiled to the Dark Forest. We're hoping she'll somehow remember, after we come to life. In the meantime, she'll help us with our plans.

Also, once we went back to life, we wouldn't be strong enough to fight our enemies on our own. We were using some living cats to hopefully weaken the Clans and our enemies, so when we went back, we'd easily be able to kill them. That's why, days ago, Sandfur went to the Nightmare Den to recruit Flamepaw into our service.

Unfortunately, it hadn't worked too well. Flamepaw had seen through Sandfur's story, and called him a liar and a sorry excuse for a father. Sandfur had walked off, annoyed because he hadn't been able to convinced Flamepaw to join him.

We don't need him, anyways. He was really only an added bonus. We have Featherheart, who will use her magic to help the Nightmare Den grow, and that stupid Eaglekit, whom we'll manipulate and feed on our trust. Then at the last minute, we will leave him lying in the dust.

* * *

 **Oh, so Goldensun wasn't actually captured by ShadowClan! *gasps* IT WAS THE LEGION AFTER ALL! Sandfur's intentions aren't so noble either… But that is to be expected. What's the point if all the villains become good?**

 **AOTD: ****I'd say about a five. I really dislike the way he's acting, because trust me, he just gets worse and worse… but I can't say I blame him, either. He's lost his only daughter, so he's going to act rashly. It's not going to end too well for him, though.**

 **QOTD: ****What music do you listen to?**


	15. Chapter 13: Battle at Climbing-Sun

**"** **I have nothing to do with Goldensun's whereabouts," Darkstar said.**

 **"** **But he disappeared right after you left my camp," Sassafrasstar pointed out.**

 **"** **That doesn't prove anything," Darkstar said. "I wish I could help you, but I can't."**

 **But Sassafrasstar still held her ground. "This… Means… War. Get your Clan ready for battle."**

 **And with that, we marched out of ShadowClan's camp.**

* * *

 **Snowfall16: ****I'll have no problem sending three chapters August 14. I just received the fragment and the 16** **th** **chapter and am currently looking over it. How is summer camp? What camps have you gone to? I know you went to one for writing, but are all of them for writing or only some of them?**

 **Okatu Fernsneeze:** **I like instrumental music too. Actually, I prefer that to pop music or music with lyrics. Finally, we have a war between ShadowClan and RiverClan, haha. No more friendship between all the Clans.**

 **No One Important:** **The StarClan cats would not be able to go into the real world, unless they had something like the Nightmare Den. Although the Dream Den can let you go back to life, it only works for reincarnations like Cinderpelt. So, you'd have to start over again as a kit. The Dark Forest cats are planning to go back to life in the bodies that they were in the day they died. Oh, for TMotM's cover, I'd like Goldensun, Silvermoon, Bluemist, Leopardheart, and Sassafrasstar on the cover. You can put Wildwater if you want, but that's optional.**

 **KittyNoaStar: ****The cats who captured Goldensun are called the Legion. I also prefer listening to music without words, especially while writing. Flowerstar is coming back, just as eeeeevil as ever, and Featherheart, yes, is going to help them.**

* * *

CHAPTER 13: BATTLE AT CLIMBING-SUN

Swanpaw's POV

"Alright, listen up," Sassafrasstar shouted. "Now, I want two patrols for the ShadowClan battle. Almost all of you will be going."

I held my breath excitedly. Would I get to go? It seemed like there was a good chance.

"Lightsky will lead the first patrol. It will consist of: Frostheart, Crowclaw, Badgerfoot, Snakescale, Leopardheart, and Brindlefire. Bluemist and Whitepaw will come with them to heal injuries. I will lead the second patrol and take: Volewhisker, Orangefur, Brightleaf, Duskpelt, Carpflight, Silvermoon, Wildwater, Spottedsky, Mossfoot, Greenpaw, Heronpaw, Flamepaw, Swanpaw, and Harepaw.

"Our plan is to get the first patrol of warriors surrounded by the ShadowClan cats. Since they will obviously be well-prepared for this attack, I'm assuming they will desert their camp and ambush you once you enter the territory. Since the first patrol has such few cats, I put the more experienced warriors in your group." She paused, and added, "We will give you a good amount of time to wait for the ShadowClan cats to arrive. Once they do, let them attack you. I will then bring the second patrol in. We will surround the ShadowClan cats and trap them."

"So we'll have the first patrol in the inside of the circle, the second on the outside of the circle, and the ShadowClan cats in-between?" Brindlefire asked.

"Exactly." Sassafrasstar nodded. "Our plan is to put them in a position where they're forced to fight on two fronts. They'll surrender immediately after that."

I grinned. This was definitely going to be exciting. I was ready to show ShadowClan what we were made of!

We waited for the first patrol to leave. After some time, we started towards ShadowClan.

Since all of the leaves were more or less gone from the trees, it was now considered leaf-bare. Strangely enough, there was no snow. The Clan found this surprising, because apparently the year before was tough. The elders said they'd gone through some leaf-bares without snow, although it isn't very common.

"And here we are." Sassafrasstar pointed towards ShadowClan camp. There was already a fight going on, and it seemed like the ShadowClan cats were winning.

"They look smug," Sassafrasstar said. "Let's show them the power of reinforcements!"

With that said, she signaled her tail to attack. The patrol ran out in a huge stream, surrounding the surprised ShadowClan warriors.

"After them!" Darkstar raged from the ledge. I stared at him. Great StarClan, was he such a coward that he couldn't even fight alongside his own Clan? "Wow," I muttered. "What a loser."

"I hope you're not talking about us?" a voice behind me said. I turned around to see two ShadowClan apprentices, a tom and a she-cat.

"Well actually, I was talking about your leader," I replied loftily.

The she-cat glared at me. "Are you calling Darkstar weak?"

"Yes," I replied. "And I'm also calling your Clan weak. You guys also sound pretty pathetic to me. You were so stupid to fall for our attack plan!"

That was all of the encouragement the two needed. Both leapt onto me. I hissed as their claws painfully stung my fur. I tried to kick back, but I was in a position where my legs could not reach them.

"Hey, get off of Swanpaw!" Suddenly I saw Flamepaw heading towards me. He dove straight for the she-cat and wrestled her to the ground.

Now I was able to stand up, so I sped towards the tom apprentice. He was completely unprepared for me to come diving at him with unsheathed claws. We fought for a long time, but finally he surrendered and stomped away.

"Crowtalon is dead!"

Everyone suddenly stopped and stared at the cat who had spoken. It was Roseleaf, one of ShadowClan's warriors. "RiverClan killed one of our warriors!" she shrieked. Then she turned around and pointed at Harepaw. "And he did it!"

Harepaw backed up, looking shocked. Everyone was dead silent.

"Anyone here want to defend him?" she demanded.

"How could Harepaw have done anything?" I snapped at her. "You can't just accuse him without proof!"

"Yeah," Lightsky said, joining in. "Have some common sense, Roseleaf. How can you expect a tiny apprentice to take on a full-grown warrior?"

Several others started to voice their opinions. I looked around, searching for cats that were supportive of Harepaw. I saw every single RiverClan cat was saying something in defense of Harepaw – except Frostheart.

I narrowed my eyes. Of course, I wasn't particularly surprised. Frostheart didn't seem to care for Harepaw at all. But I hated the way she treated him all the time. I really wished Harepaw could stand up for himself and give her exactly what she deserved.

"I've had it," Darkstar roared. "You not only killed one ShadowClan cat, but two. Get out immediately."

"As you insist," Sassafrasstar said coldly, turning towards the exit of the camp. "RiverClan, come with me." Taking one last look at the defeated ShadowClan warriors, I turned around and followed my Clan home.

* * *

After Bluemist and Whitepaw had looked at everyone's injuries, Sassafrasstar called another meeting.

"It's obvious the battle didn't go as well as we planned," Sassafrasstar said, curling her tail over her paws. "Yes, we won, but it came at a high price; we killed a warrior."

"Harepaw," she added, "we don't blame you for the death of Crowtalon. I'm sorry you were accused so unjustly. However, there is one thing I'm wondering; how did Crowtalon die?"

"I saw what happened," Leopardheart said. "We were fighting, and then he escaped up into a pine tree. I tried to follow him, but then he threw pinecones at me. Unfortunately for him, he lost his footing, fell off the pine tree, and broke his neck. Harepaw happened to be nearby at that point, so Roseleaf went paranoid and accused him of killing Crowtalon."

There was silence after that. Finally Sassafrasstar nodded. "Since it is obvious ShadowClan will not give back Goldensun, I have decided Badgerfoot will serve as deputy until Goldensun comes back."

A cheer rang around the Clan. Badgerfoot was respected by many cats in the Clan; he would be a good temporary deputy.

"Also, I have realized that without Goldensun, Swanpaw is left mentorless." Sassafrasstar added. "So Spottedsky, you will be her mentor in the meantime, until he comes back."

I was happy to have Spottedsky as a mentor, but I was also sad. I really wished Goldensun could come home.

"We defeated ShadowClan resoundingly today," Sassafrasstar added. "We will give them some time to recover from their wounds. I am sure they will not come back here in a hurry. But once they do, we'll strike again. We'll make them pay for taking Goldensun away from us."

* * *

 **AOTD: ****I actually don't listen to pop music. I'm completely clueless about all the pop artists that everyone seems to love. I don't know any of their names, any of their songs, or anything. So anyways, I prefer listening to music written for orchestras, or really any music without lyrics. It's better for me to put that on in the background while I'm writing or doing schoolwork.**

 **Don't have a QOTD today. :) Sorry about that.**


	16. Chapter 14: The Nightmare Den Grows

**KittyNoaStar: ****I really don't like pop artists either, mainly because most of their songs are about falling in love or some cheesy theme like that. And I agree about Sassafrasstar. She is doing the same thing that Darkstar did to her. I wouldn't go as far to say that she's as crazy as Darkstar, but she's getting there.**

 **Snowfall16: ****I sent you three chapters today, just like you asked. It's cool that your camp is sponsored by the military. I've actually been interested in the army, even though I'm not very physically strong and wouldn't be able to be part of the military. I don't want to be either, but I've always admired people who go to war and possibly give up their lives just for their country. Six AP classes? Wow that is a lot. Good luck!**

 **No One Important:** **It seems like I've made Darkstar a very hateable character. And he only gets worse and worse from here. To be honest, I thought Darkstar deserved the snide remark from Swanpaw, but I agree she shouldn't have said that to another ShadowClan cat's face. That was rude. And sure, I'd like you to add Flowerstar into the cover! How is the rainbow for the TRotR cover going?**

* * *

CHAPTER 14: THE NIGHTMARE DEN GROWS

Swanpaw's POV

Dawn came and I rose early, groaning at the cold. When I went outside, a blast hit me; it was ten times colder than it was inside. I considered going back to my nest, but then I saw Harepaw leaning against a tree outside. I bounded after him.

Harepaw looked terrible. His brown fur was even duller than it normally was, and his amber eyes were gloomy. He was staring down at the ground, looking as if he wanted it to eat him up. But when he looked up at me, he smiled.

"Hi Swanpaw," he said in a tired voice. "I still can't get ShadowClan's accusation out of my mind."

"We can go inside, if it's too cold for you," I suggested, but Harepaw shook his head.

"I can manage," he said. "Unless you're cold?" he asked with a touch of concern.

I knew Harepaw was trying to act like the tough guy. Well, if he could stand the cold, then so could I. "I'm fine," I said.

"Why would ShadowClan accuse me, of all cats?" he whimpered. "I didn't do anything."

"They're just bitter." I thought back to how horrible Roseleaf had acted towards Harepaw, and how grief-stricken she'd been when Crowtalon died. I remember when I was young, and used to think war was cool. But now I realized battles were not fun. They were horrible. It was just unnecessary rivalry between Clans.

"Hey, thanks for sticking up for me out there," he said. "When Roseleaf said those things, I thought that was it. But you just came in and did what you've always done for me. That was really awesome of you."

"It wasn't special at all," I protested. "I just did what any other Clanmate would have done." But I felt a proud spark of joy in my heart. Maybe for once, I had done something right.

"Did you notice Frostheart was the only cat yesterday who didn't stick up for you?" I said, changing the subject.

"I saw," Harepaw said, his eyes darkening. "She said some very cruel things to me yesterday, after the battle. She told me that I should learn how to stick up for myself or go live as a kittypet."

"She said _what_?" I exclaimed, shocked.

"Oh, she's said worse things," Harepaw replied. "Frostheart has always been like that. She's a very cruel mentor."

"She's a terrible cat also," I murmured.

"Hey, what's up with Waterpaw, by the way?" Harepaw asked, deliberately changing the subject. He had a way of doing that. If there was something he didn't like to talk about, he would tense up and change the topic to something else.

"What do you mean?"

"He's always hanging out with Greenpaw and Heronpaw," Harepaw said. "They keep asking him to jobs for them, and he always agrees."

I shrugged. "That's Waterpaw's problem. I've already talked to him about it, and he completely blew me off. I don't like what they're doing, but…"

Before I could say anything, I heard someone's tail rattling a bush. I spun around.

"Hi Swanpaw," a voice behind me said. I saw Greenpaw and Heronpaw. They were both staring at us with narrowed eyes.

Just great.

"Can we talk to you for a moment, Swanpaw?" Greenpaw said, trying to sound casual, but I detected the envy in his tone.

"Hey, stay away from her," Harepaw said suddenly, stepping forwards. "Didn't your mother teach you it's rude to interrupt?"

"Yeah sure," Heronpaw sneered. "Which ShadowClan cat are you going to murder today?"

"That's enough!" I snapped as Harepaw opened his mouth. "Harepaw, go back to the apprentices' den. I'll meet you there."

Harepaw looked reluctant, but after a few seconds, he nodded and turned back to the cave.

"Now then," Greenpaw said, "why are you wasting your time with Harepaw? Can't you see I'm so much more awesome?"

"I'll be the judge of that," I said coolly.

"Are you saying that you'd rather spend your time with Harepaw?" Heronpaw said nastily.

"He's very annoying," I snapped, "but if you keep this behavior up, I'm going to say yes."

"But look at your choices," Greenpaw said. "You can choose wimpy Harepaw, who can't even catch a trout without falling into the river. And then you have handsome, valiant, gorgeous me – "

"I'm not choosing either of you," I replied. "So _stop_ it. Just leave me alone."

"Oh, and by the way," Heronpaw added, "I heard you talking about Waterpaw and me with Harepaw. It's not very nice to gossip about your Clanmates behind their backs, is it?"

"Leave me alone," I growled, but he ignored me and continued talking.

"You had no right," Heronpaw said. "The thing between Waterpaw and me is none of your business."

"I said, leave me _alone_!" I barked at him. "I really don't care about what's going on between you guys. Just go away."

The two toms finally left, but I was still sitting in the snow. Was it right to say I found Harepaw annoying? I mean, he didn't seem so bad anymore. I was starting to actually like him as a friend.

I sighed. Why couldn't Greenpaw and Heronpaw just leave us alone?

* * *

 _In the evening_

Whitepaw's POV

As usual, a guard came to get us food. He gave me a tiny, disgusting rat that would barely feed one. Of course, I had to eat it, because it was the only thing there.

I heard the guard passing something to Goldensun in the stall next to mine. "Here's your food for the night," the guard said as he threw something at Goldensun. Judging from the smell coming from his stall, I'd say it was even worse than my portion.

"No," Goldensun snapped. "I'm not eating this crowfood."

The guard looked surprised. "Excuse me?" he asked.

"I'm not eating this," Goldensun continued on, sounding more and more like a kit every second. "If you're going to hold us here against our will, we should at least be fed properly."

"This is all you get," the tom replied. "Deal with it."

I heard Goldensun growl. Then he suddenly pounced, and I heard the unmistakable sound of teeth and claws.

"Help me over here!" the tom shouted at the other two guards. They came running in to stop the fight. In less than two seconds, the fight was over and Goldensun was pinned down.

"Well, that does it," the first guard said, glaring down at Goldensun. "We're taking you to the high-security stalls. Come with us."

Goldensun had no choice but to go. After he left, I slumped down on the ground, feeling defeated. Without Goldensun, there was no way I could escape from this place.

* * *

Sandfur's POV

Today we had another one of our meetings with Featherheart. I looked across the river and saw Featherheart had remembered to bring the kit with her.

All is according to plan.

Yesterday I called an emergency meeting with Featherheart and the other Dark Forest cats. I told them we had to re-write some of our plans because of Eaglekit. They had protested at first, because they were sure he would run to the StarClan council and get us in trouble. But then I reminded them that Eaglekit could actually be of some use to us. All we had to do was to tell Eaglekit a version of our plan, and he'd believe us. Kits these days are so gullible.

"Welcome, Featherheart and… oh, _sorry_ , I forgot your name," Flowerstar asked, staring Eaglekit down. Clearly she still didn't trust him.

"Eaglekit," he replied, returning her stare.

 _So he isn't going to be pushed by her_ , I thought, impressed. This kit did have some spunk after all.

"Settle down, settle down," I said, hastily. "Eaglekit, Flowerstar, Orangefoot, and I have been discussing more plans. We have created something called the Night – I mean, Destiny Den, which lets us go back to the Clans."

"Cool," Eaglekit murmured. "But what were you saying about night?"

I frowned, trying to think of a way to get myself out of trouble. Forcing a smile on my face, I said, "Oh, we used to call it the Night Sky Den, but we figured that the Destiny Den was a more, er, appropriate name for what we are doing."

"Nice save," Featherheart mouthed at me from behind Eaglekit. Eaglekit was still staring at me with an expression of awe.

Wait, did this kit _admire_ me? I couldn't let that happen! He was only there to help us, not to be my best friend. I couldn't let him admire me at all!

"Anyways," I continued, "so far, Featherheart has been feeding the, um, Destiny Den with her StarClan powers. We were hoping you could also give the den some of your powers."

"Sure!" Eaglekit said so eagerly, he jumped up. _Is this kit really that eager?_ I thought. He must really want to go to the living world.

Flowerstar led the way into Dark Forest territory. Soon we came to the Nightmare Den, which was not a very glorifying sight. Then again, nothing in the Dark Forest was particularly beautiful.

"That's the Destiny Den?" asked Eaglekit, staring at it. "It doesn't look like much."

Orangefoot growled. He looked offended. Featherheart sent me a glare, as if to say, _Thanks for letting this little pipsqueak offend our den._

"It doesn't look like much now," I corrected him, "but it will in the future. Can you lend some of your power to it, Eaglekit?"

"How do I do that?" asked Eaglekit.

"You just focus," said Featherheart. "Just send your energy into the Destiny Den. Like this." She closed her eyes and rested her paws on the Destiny Den. Suddenly, her fur started to tinge with lavender starlight. It flew from her fur, down to her paws, and went straight into the den. Stepping back, she mowed, "Now you try."

Eaglekit closed his eyes and concentrated. A moment later, green starlight started to flood over his pelt. It flew from him and straight into the Nightmare Den. A loud, popping sound could be heard inside the den. Startled, Eaglekit opened his eyes.

"Oh, don't worry," I assured him. "It does that all the time. It's nothing to worry about."

"What does my power do?" he asked.

"It will just make the den stronger," I answered. "Right now, it has the power to let us visit other cats in dreams. Soon, with your help, we will be able to travel to the living world and materialize as living cats."

"If that's it," Featherheart interrupted, "we should really be going, Sandfur. We don't want StarClan to catch us."

"Of course," I said casually. "See you next meeting."

"We should be going, too," Flowerstar added. "Come on, Sandfur and Orangefoot."

As we were leaving, Flowerstar snickered. "Destiny Den?" she asked me. "Really, Sandfur? What was that about?"

"Oh, shut up," I growled. "Eaglekit's going to help us. You just wait and see."

As we left, I suddenly felt a sharp pang in my stomach. I had no idea what it was.

* * *

 **Ooh, we're getting some emotions from our number one evil kitty. This is getting deep.**

 **QOTD:** ***tries to think of a QOTD* Which electives are you taking? (Assuming you're in high school and you get to choose electives. If not, what electives would you like to take?)**


	17. Chapter 15: The Legion

**Hey, what's up? Looks like I've decided to update again! *gasps***

 **Previously on TRotR:**

 _ **"** **I've had it," Darkstar roared. "You not only killed one ShadowClan cat, but two. Get out immediately."**_

 _ **"** **As you insist," Sassafrasstar said coldly. "RiverClan, come with me." Taking one last look at the defeated ShadowClan warriors, I followed my Clan home.**_

* * *

 **No One Important:** **It's terrible that your computer has a virus! I've actually been having some problems with viruses on my own computer. Have you backed up your files? Ever since I lost TRotR, I've been literally backing up my computer every day. And take as much time off of the cover as you need. When you lose something or can't work on it for a period of time, it's very disheartening and you don't feel like working on it for a while.**

 **Snowfall16: ****I could probably reference back to that line, sure, without a problem. Darn it I didn't realize I should have sent a chapter last week. But oh well. I think the doc-exchange thing is still going well.**

 **KittyNoaStar: ****Oh, electives are classes that you choose in high school. For example, art class and music class are all mandatory in elementary/middle school, but starting high school, you can choose classes based on your interests. The academic classes are all mandatory classes, but electives (e.g. art, orchestra, band, cooking, etc.) are classes you can choose, if your school offers them.**

 **Okatu Fernsneeze:** **In my school, languages count as an academic class, not an elective. You're required to take at least 2 years. The only languages my school offers are Spanish and French. I'm also taking Spanish, which is cool because I'm actually teaching myself to write in Spanish. I'm not much of a math/science person, but GTT also sounds interesting. What's it about?**

 **PopplioIsn'tBad: ****Who is Popplio? A character in Pokémon? I don't play the game, so I don't know. Anyways, it's cool that you're taking Advanced Art. I'm not much of an art person, so I can't really relate, but it sounds interesting.**

* * *

CHAPTER 15: THE LEGION

Waterpaw's POV

As the full-moon rose in the sky, I crossed the tree-bridge. My second Gathering was here. It was time to find Turtlepaw.

She was sitting on a tree-stump, her legs tucked under her. Her eyes looked downcast, and her tail and whiskers drooped. "What's the matter?" I asked, settling down beside her.

"It's terrible," she said. "Darkstar has gone insane! The shock of Crowtalon's death has made him go crazy. He is now strictly enforcing his border security and declares he will kill any RiverClan cat that steps so much as a pawstep across!"

I stared at her in horror. "That's horrible! Has Featherheart and Crowtalon's deaths really affected him that much?"

"Yes," Turtlepaw said grimly. "I really wish I could speak up, but I can't. The cats in my Clan don't trust me as it is, and besides, Darkstar will exile any cat who dares oppose him."

"Don't worry Turtlepaw," I said. "I'll help you through this."

Turtlepaw sniffed; she was crying now. "I wish you were in my Clan," she sobbed. "That would make life so much easier."

"Same." I wished everything wasn't so hard. "Why don't you join my Clan, if ShadowClan is giving you such a hard time?" I suggested.

She stared at me. "I couldn't do that!"

"Why not?" I prompted.

"Well, for one thing, I'd be leaving many cats that I know well. For another, no one in RiverClan would trust me. And for the third, I'd be known as the cat that switched Clans twice."

"Oh. Right." I wished that this weren't the case. It wasn't fair! If only we lived in the same Clan, we could be good friends. But now that we were divided by a border, a border that did nothing but cause strife and horror, we could never get to know each other. Turtlepaw was one of the truest friends I had ever known.

"All cats assemble!" Crowstar's sharp voice echoed from the oak tree. Turtlepaw gave me one last glance, then headed off to find her Clan. With a sigh, I went to join my Clanmates.

* * *

Swanpaw's POV

The Gathering began as usual. Crowstar made his announcements, and so did Whitestar. But before Sassafrasstar could even open her mouth, Darkstar spoke. "I have an important announcement to make. Two nights ago, RiverClan invaded my camp. They killed one of my warriors, Crowtalon." His eyes flashed. "This is blatant proof that RiverClan is filled with murders! I will not tolerate it! From now on, border security is being strictly enforced. Any cat who steps across my border will be severely punished! This rule applies to all of you, but especially RiverClan."

Yowls of protest filled the island. "We've never done anything!" Whitestar said.

"You're overreacting," Sassafrasstar said furiously. "Just because you think we killed Featherheart, you're going to make enemies of us!"

"Overreacting? You're talking to _me_ about overreacting?" raged Darkstar. "Who was the one who stormed into my camp and declared war? Who was the one who falsely accused me of holding Goldensun hostage? Whose Clan killed Crowtalon? Don't you DARE speak in that way to me!"

There was total silence. The ThunderClan cats looked very apprehensive. They obviously didn't want to go anywhere near ShadowClan. Some of the ShadowClan cats looked smug, but most looked worried, as if they were thinking, _What is our leader getting us into?_

The WindClan cats didn't say anything, because the border policies had nothing to do with them. They did not share borders with ShadowClan. But I saw them exchanging worried looks.

Darkstar still had the murderous look in his eyes. He glared at Sassafrasstar and she glared back. But before he could open his mouth, a loud rustle sounded behind us and we all turned around to look.

Someone was walking across the tree-bridge. It was a group of cats that we had never seen before. "Who are they?" I heard someone hiss. "How dare they interrupt the Gathering?"

As more and more cats walked across, there were more and more alarmed whispers. The Clan leaders decided to take control of the situation. Whitestar stepped up to the cats and boomed, "What is the meaning of this disturbance?"

The leader of the strange cats stepped forwards. "I am Luke," he meowed. "I am the leader of these cats, the Legion. We wish to live around the lake."

"But that's impossible," Crowstar said, shocked. "Are you telling us to leave the lake and give up all of our land to you?"

Luke's eyes gleamed. "That, my friend, is precisely what I am saying."

"Never!" yowled Sassafrasstar.

"We're not giving up our territory to some random cats who walk in and disturb our Gathering!" Whitestar yelled, glaring at Luke.

"Oh really?" Luke purred. "Do you know how many cats I have? I have a huge number of cats, more than you could imagine. And then I have some more. Haven't you wondered what has happened to your missing cats, RiverClan and WindClan? I have them. They are my cats now. I captured a deputy and four puny apprentices. I will make your deputy submit to my rule. He is a fighter, but he will soon break down. And those apprentices… well, they will easily be brainwashed."

Silence descended around the island for a long time. Luke had Whitepaw and Sweetpaw? But we were so sure it was ShadowClan! Sassafrasstar didn't even bother to hide her shock; a pure expression of dismay filled her features.

And WindClan… did they have missing cats too? Who were they? And why didn't we hear about this sooner?

It was Darkstar who finally broke the silence.

"Well," he said loftily, "Sassafrasstar, I think you owe me an explanation."

Sassafrasstar looked at him nervously. "Darkstar, I do apologize for accusing you of stealing my cats," she meowed. "I really do." She turned to Luke. "You are going to pay for this."

"You know, I've noticed something very _interesting_ about the Clans," Luke purred. "You all have a history of not working together. You always insist on being separate, despite coming from the same ancestors. How do you think you're going to beat me?"

"You're talking nonsense!" Crowstar raged. "Listen, you little leader-wannabe. Only about eight moons ago, WindClan's previous leader conquered the entire lake. Many of us joined forces to fight her. We fought once, we'll fight again! Who says we can't join forces?"

"We'll never let you win!" Sassafrasstar and Whitestar said together. Darkstar said nothing.

"Well then," Luke said coolly, "that concludes this meeting." He turned around to walk onto the tree-bridge, and his army followed.

When he reached the end of the bridge, he called out, "And by the way, RiverClan, don't let your guard down! There's a traitor in your Clan! One of your Clan members has been spying on you and reporting back to me. Watch out!"

And with that threat, he stormed off of the bridge and into the night.

* * *

 **Even more drama. :) And we have a traitor! Who could it be?**

 **AOTD:** **I'm taking orchestra as an elective. I'm a violinist and I've been playing since I was three. Besides school orchestra, I also play violin at my youth orchestra.**

 **QOTD: ****Speaking of school orchestra… have any of you ever played an instrument at any point?**


	18. Chapter 16: Escape from the Legion

**Well, I was** ** _supposed_** **to update this on the weekend, but I sort of forgot. But this chapter is filled with a lot of drama. We get to see what's going on with Sweetpaw and Whitepaw, whom we've conveniently forgotten for a while.**

 **Otaku Fernsneeze:** **I find it stupid that they force kids to play instruments/sing at school. As much as I like music, it's not for everyone. Also, your OC Darkpaw will be appearing in this chapter! I couldn't do the whole plot-point with her chasing Goldensun, because that would take away from the story and all, but she has an important part. And GTT sounds cool, I like the idea of building things. Are you in 8** **th** **or 9** **th** **grade?**

 **Snowfall16: ****For how long did you play those three instruments? I kind of understood what you said about transition and action, but I'm still a bit confused. What exactly were you saying?**

 **xEverlastingDarknessx: ****Just curious, but what instrument is your brother playing? Also, it's cool that you're playing clarinet for that long a time. Six years is quite a long commitment, especially when half the kids in school drop out of playing music in 5** **th** **grade itself… no offense.**

 **No One Important:** **Frostheart as the traitor, hmm? That WOULD explain a lot… If you lose your files completely, there is a way to get them back. When you delete a file from the Recycle Bin, it's not gone permanently. It still stays on your hard drive until it gets overwritten. There is online software to get your permanently deleted files back. It may not get ALL your files back (because some will probably be overwritten by the time the virus is fixed) but you may be able to recover at least some. The problem is, they charge you for installing it on your computer. You have to pay to install any of these softwares. (This is why I didn't get TRotR back – I don't have money to pay for that kind of stuff). But it may still be worth it.**

 **KittyNoaStar: ****I'm excited too! :D Ready to see some action?**

* * *

CHAPTER 16: ESCAPE FROM THE LEGION

 _Later that night_

Whitepaw's POV

"Whitepaw, wake up!"

I opened my eyes to hear a familiar voice. Who was this? I knew it was someone from RiverClan, but I didn't remember who.

Or maybe I was just imagining things. One would do a lot of daydreaming after being locked up in a tiny space, day and night. I settled back down on my paws and tried to sleep again.

The brambles that were enclosing my stall suddenly were pulled back. I snapped my eyes open as air rushed into my stall. In front of me stood a tortoiseshell she-cat.

"Sweetpaw?" I gasped. "Is that really you?"

"Whitepaw! I'm so glad to see you!" she cried back.

"Shh!" the cat behind Sweetpaw warned. "It wouldn't be good to wake up the guards now."

I squinted in confusion. Behind Sweetpaw were two cats, a dark-furred she-cat and a yellowy-gray tom. They looked to be about the same age as us.

"She's Darkpaw and he's Yellowpaw," said Sweetpaw. She didn't say anything more than that.

"No time for explanations," Darkpaw said, noticing the look on my face. "Let's just get out of here."

I stared at her. They were going to bail me out? "Really?" I whispered.

"Yes," said Sweetpaw impatiently. "Let's _go_ , fish-brain."

"Hold it!" A tom barked. He was short but muscular, with a crude look on his face. "How'd you get out?"

We glanced nervously at each other.

"What are we going to do?" Yellowpaw whispered.

"Scaredy-rabbit," Darkpaw sneered. "There's four of us and only one of him. Let's show him what we've got!"

With that, she signaled her tail for attack. The four of us launched ourselves toward the guard and pummeled him to the ground. He was about to screech, but Darkpaw placed her paw on his mouth.

"Don't even think about it," she snarled. "Let us go, or else."

The guard struggled, but it was all of us against him and he had no way of calling for help, unless he wanted Darkpaw to throttle him. He finally lowered his head in defeat.

We went straight for the exit and didn't look back.

* * *

As soon as we were out of the Twoleg den, we ran, as if a pack of foxes was chasing us. That doesn't sound like too bad of a comparison, seeing as these Legion cats are such fox-hearts.

As we ran, the sky progressively got darker and darker. Gray clouds glided through the sky, looking ready to burst at any second. While glancing up at the sky, I once tripped on a tree-root, causing a loud _crack_ through the air. I froze for a second, then, realizing that no cat was following us, continued to run.

"Be careful," Sweetpaw hissed. "What if they catch up with us?"

"Don't worry, they won't," Darkpaw said confidently.

"We only have a few moments before they notice we're missing," I pointed out. "That guard is probably getting reinforcements. They can run faster than us and they know the land better."

"So what's your plan?" Yellowpaw asked.

"We need to climb," I said boldly.

Darkpaw and Yellowpaw stared at me. "We're WindClan cats," Darkpaw said. "We don't have much experience climbing!"

"Hey, we're RiverClan cats," I said. "We don't have too much experience either, but we at least learn how to climb. You just pull yourself up like this." I pulled myself up the tree and climbed to the top. "Then you jump from branch to branch, tree to tree." I leapt across branches while the other three stared.

A sudden shout filled the air. "Which way did they go?"

"We don't have much time for this!" Yellowpaw hissed. "Listen, Sweetpaw and you can climb. Since Darkpaw and I are from WindClan, we can run fast. We can escape easily without having to take cover in the trees." He and Darkpaw then took off running.

Sweetpaw and I climbed to the tops of the trees. We didn't need to go as fast, because no one would spot us from up here, but we still needed to be careful.

As we climbed, the clouds in the sky got even darker. Lightning flashed in the sky, and thunder boomed. At the first thunder clap, I almost fell out of the tree.

"What's the matter, Whitepaw?" asked Sweetpaw.

"Um… I think I'm scared of loud noises," I said tentatively, pawing the branch nervously.

"This is no time to be scared of thunder," Sweetpaw said, sounding annoyed. "Come on, let's go before they spot us."

A cat suddenly shouted. "Wait a minute. Are those cats I see in the trees?"

"Uh oh," Sweetpaw muttered.

We saw, to our horror, Legion cats were surrounding the tree. I began to shake with fear. Was this where it ended? Were they going to capture us now?

"You're not escaping _anywhere_ , Clan cats," one of the cats snarled, starting to spring up the tree.

"RUN!" Sweetpaw yowled, springing from branch to branch. I followed her. We both raced across the trees, desperately trying to stay away from our pursuer.

"This is all your fault!" she screamed at me. "If you hadn't have come up with this stupid idea, we could have escaped with Darkpaw and Yellowpaw!"

"Well, it's your fault we got captured in the first place," I retorted.

"Oh, don't argue," the Legion cat laughed. "Just stop right where you are, apprentices. You come with me, and no one needs to get hurt."

Suddenly, a loud, crackling noise filled the air. What was it? I looked up, and saw a bright shaft of lightning. The lightning hit an old tree that was a few tree-paces behind us. The Legion cats, who were on the tree behind that, were blocked from following us. The old tree went up in flames.

Sweetpaw's whiskers twitched in fear. "FIRE!" she yowled, dancing around. We had only seen it once before. When we were two moons old, a fire started in the marsh and we had to evacuate camp. I had only hazy memories of that, but I still knew what fire was.

"Sweetpaw! Whitepaw! Are you all right?" I heard Darkpaw scream. "Get your sorry whiskers over here!"

Darkpaw? Where was she? "We're coming!" Sweetpaw yelled, bounding down the tree. Not exactly sure where we were going, I followed Sweetpaw.

"Are you sure the Legion cats aren't following us?" I whispered. I had seen them get blocked by the fire, but I wasn't sure if they had found a new way to pursue us or not.

"Oh who cares?" Sweetpaw snapped back. "I just want to get out of here alive! Not sure if you have the same intention."

Her words stung. "Well, if you're so smart, then where's Darkpaw?"

As she spoke, we heard a tree crash onto the ground, lit ablaze by flames. Darkpaw's piercing scream filled the air. "Help! I'm trapped!"

"Great StarClan!" Yellowpaw screamed. I saw him standing nearby a tree. "I'll save you!"

"Wait!" I skidded towards him. "Stop! Where's Darkpaw!"

"She's stuck in that enclosure," Yellowpaw answered. "Fire is surrounding her on all four sides. We need to do something!"

"Don't jump!" I yowled. But it was too late. Yellowpaw leapt from the tree straight into the enclosure.

"Oh great, now they're _both_ stuck!" growled Sweetpaw. "That fish-brain probably got himself killed!"

"I'm fine!" Yellowpaw yelled. "I can't get Darkpaw and me out of here. Do something!"

"What are we going to do?" Sweetpaw wailed. She looked at me for help.

It was up to me to make a plan, I knew. Sweetpaw wasn't very good during times of stress. Granted, I've never been very during times of stress, either. Could I really pull this off? Could I really help them?

 _Yes_ , I thought firmly to myself. _You have to._ They had gotten me out of the Legion's prison, now I had to rescue Darkpaw and Yellowpaw

"See that log over there?" I asked Sweetpaw. "Let's push it into the fire to get to Darkpaw."

We went to the end of the log and pushed it. It was very difficult to push a heavy log, but the two of us somehow managed. We pushed it straight into the fire.

"Darkpaw! Climb onto this log and you'll be safe!" I yowled. "Quickly, before the flames eat it up!"

"Got it!" Darkpaw shouted back. A moment later, we saw her bounding onto the log and running across, with Yellowpaw right behind her. They managed to run across the log just before the flames devoured it.

"We're safe!" Darkpaw cheered.

"It's all thanks to Whitepaw," Sweetpaw said, grinning at me. I ducked my head shyly.

"Um, I hate to break it to you guys, but there's a full-scale fire right behind us!" Yellowpaw cried. "Quit it with the happy reunion and _let's go_!"

We ran as fast as we could and didn't look back.

* * *

Sweetpaw's POV

We ran through the forest, fire chasing us with every step. It took a long time, but we finally escaped the forest. Even then, we didn't stop. We continued running through the field, as fast as we could.

Soon, we were too tired to run anymore. We collapsed in a heap at the end of the field.

"It's almost dawn," Darkpaw yawned. "We've been up all night."

"I'm so tired, I could collapse on a pile of moss and go to sleep," I sighed.

"I'm so tired, I could collapse _without_ the moss," groaned Darkpaw. "Goodnight everyone." She closed her eyes and curled up.

"I'm going to sleep too," said Yellowpaw. "Goodnight." He curled up beside Darkpaw.

I looked at Whitepaw. He looked so tired after all the excitement that night. "I'll go and get some moss," I said. "You stay here."

"No, I'll help," he said, getting up to help me.

"Look, Whitepaw," I began, "you're tired. I'll do it."

"What's the matter?" he asked.

I sighed. It had been so strange how Whitepaw had so easily taken command, back in the fire.

"You were so assertive and outgoing back there," I said. "It's just… well, you never used to be like that. You used to be the cat who would always be scared of birds and things like that. You just _changed_ last night."

"You think I'm different now?" Whitepaw asked.

"Yes. And I felt really stupid because I wasn't able to take charge like you. I just stood there like an idiot when Darkpaw and Yellowpaw got trapped in the fire. And then I fought with you and said some stupid things."

"Look, let's not fight again," he said.

"Yeah, let's not," I agreed. "We need to stick together from now on, if we have any hope of getting back home."

Suddenly I heard a shout. A tom poked his head out from behind a tree. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

* * *

 **Starting now, updates will be every Sunday for TRotR and GSC. That's how I was doing it before, but I'm just making it official. If Sunday rolls around and I forget, then by all means spam me with PMs!**

 **AOTD: ****Well, yeah. I kind of answered that with my last QOTD.**

 **QOTD 1:** **I've noticed a lot of you guys seem to really hate Flowerstar (and Frostheart too). So I have a question: whom do you hate more, Flowerstar or Frostheart?**

 **QOTD 2:** **If there is a character in** ** _Warriors_** **you wish could be reincarnated, who would it be? And if there's a character you wish could be killed off, who would that be and why?**


	19. Chapter 17: A Place to Stay

**Wow, a lot of reviews! Thanks so much, guys!**

 **xEverlastingDarknessx: ****Yeah, it is sad. I think mainly it's because the school doesn't teach it well, and also none of the kids in my school can be bothered to practice.**

 **No One Important:** **Yeah, Flowerstar is quite insane. Frostheart, on the other paw, only has a nasty personality, as of now, she doesn't seem really evil. Yeah, no one likes Breezepelt. I also felt sympathy for him as an apprentice, but just because his father abused him doesn't mean he should kill other cats. Personally, I don't really like Yellowfang (I liked her in the first series but she became overrated in later books), but I get why you'd want her reincarnated. Naming two chapters 'The Legion' was a mistake and I'll fix that. Oh, and Talon and Clove appear in this chapter! I did say that the loners would have an important part, so here they are.**

 **Okatu Fernsneeze:** **You get electives in middle school itself? Or does 8** **th** **grade count as part of high school? How does your school work? In my school, we only get electives in 9** **th** **grade when we start high school. I know some people in my grade who were born late but they're still in my grade. It's ridiculous, those people are born in December of the next year, and the cutoff date is in September. (Our school is a bit lenient with the cutoff thing, and they all went to private kindergarten so it's allowed) From what I've heard, all of them struggle to keep up with the schoolwork. So I guess it might be better to be held back a year, but then again I don't know. I liked** ** _Cloudstar's Journey_** **, too. (It was really sad though). I'd rather not see Sol again, though, because he already appeared twice and I kind of wish Hollyleaf had just killed him off in** ** _The Forgotten Warrior_** **.**

 **Snowfall16: ****So you don't like Frostheart? That's understandable, no one likes her apparently XD. But Flowerstar is more eeeeevil, let's all agree on that. I'm glad you thought I did a good job with action! And I kind of left people on a cliffie too, I guess. Oh, and about the second QOTD. I agree Mosskit or Snowkit should have been reincarnated. And I don't get why Erin Hunter put so many cats in ThunderClan, either. (I don't understand why the Erins do a lot of things, but that's a different story). ThunderClan is just too darn big. Literally all plot points, prophecies, and heroes lead to ThunderClan, which gets really annoying at times.**

 **ShadowWolf157: ****This story has even crazier plotlines than TMotM. Yeah, Swanpaw's an interesting character, isn't she? Heronpaw's up to something bad XD. And you can yell at Frostheart all you want. We all hate her.**

* * *

CHAPTER 17: A PLACE TO STAY

Flamepaw's POV

We finally reached home. Immediately, Sassafrasstar climbed the Lakeledge for a meeting. She told all of the cats who had not come to the Gathering what had happened. Everyone was shocked to hear that Darkstar had not in fact stolen Whitepaw, Sweetpaw, and Goldensun. They were furious when they heard about the rogue cats.

"Now listen up," Sassafrasstar ordered. "I heard from these rogues that we have a traitor in our Clan. The Legion has so much information about the Clans, I wouldn't be surprised. You know who you are. Speak up. If you admit to the crime now and promise not to give them any more information, then I will forgive you. Speak up later, and I won't be so merciful."

It was again silent. No one really seemed to know anything. We waited for someone to open their mouth, but no one did.

"Very well then," Sassafrasstar said icily. "But if anyone happens to have any suspicions, meet me in my den as soon as possible. We need to sort this out."

And with that remark, she dismissed the Clan.

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

Sweetpaw's POV

Whitepaw and I stared at the tom. He was massive with dark brown-and-chestnut tabby stripes. His green eyes glared down on us.

"Well?" The tom prompted. "Who are you?"

"I'm Sweetpaw," I managed to say. "This is my friend Whitepaw."

"Clan cats?" the tom said. "And apprentices? Why are you so far away from the lake?"

Whitepaw and I stared at each other, surprised. "You know about the Clans?" I asked.

"Yes," he said impatiently. "What are you doing in my territory?"

Before we could answer, a she-cat joined him. She looked basically the same, except she was much shorter and her eyes were amber instead of green. "Talon, look at the state of these cats," she scolded. "They need a warm nest and some food. We can ask questions later."

Talon protested, "But Clove, they" –

Clove silenced him with a look. She turned to Whitepaw. "Come with us."

At that moment, Yellowpaw and Darkpaw yawned. "Is it morning?" groaned Yellowpaw, stretching.

"Wait, who are they?" Darkpaw demanded, looking at Clove and Talon through narrowed eyes.

I grinned. "They're going to offer us some food and shelter," I said. "Come on."

"This way, apprentices," said Clove, leading the way. We followed.

* * *

Clove and Talon's home was an abandoned Twoleg den. I stared at it, thinking I had never seen a den so big.

The outside was a rusty, brownish color. The weird see-through things on the wall (Talon said they were windows) were edged with something green. The thing which they called a 'door' was also green. Clove pushed it open.

Inside, there was a huge space which was called a 'living room'. There were also four "bedrooms" in the den. Clove had the one on the right, and Talon was in the one on the left.

"Whitepaw and Yellowpaw, you can share the room at the end of the hall," Talon said. "Darkpaw and Sweetpaw, take the one next to Clove's. She'll bring you food in a minute."

I went inside and gasped. It was enormous! We could easily fit about ten cats in here; it was literally the size of the apprentices' den back in RiverClan. Clove soon came in with a squirrel. A soft, fur-like thing was on the ground, which I pawed curiously. Clove said it was a 'blanket'.

"You can both share the squirrel," she said, placing the moss on the ground and arranging it. I wasn't used to eating squirrel, being from RiverClan and all, but I was so hungry I could eat anything at that point. Darkpaw and I devoured the squirrel, but we made a huge mess on the floor. I stared down at it. We always made a mess while eating, but somehow it was more noticeable on such clean ground.

"Don't worry, I'll clean it up," Clove assured us. She plucked some moss from the side and mopped it up. Darkpaw and I both lay down on the blanket.

"Goodnight," Clove said. "If you need me, I'm in the room next door."

"I'm glad we get to share a room," I said to Darkpaw, shivering a little. The blanket was a bit scratchy, not like the moss I was used to. "I don't know how Clove can have one entire room to herself."

"Mmm," said Darkpaw sleepily. By then she was half-asleep. I put my head down and closed my eyes, listening to the steady sound of my own heartbeat. And soon, I was asleep too.

* * *

 **Next update will be next Sunday. School's starting on Thursday so I want to get into a routine of updating once every week.**

 **AOTD1: ****Ready for this? The one I hate more is actually… Frostheart. I actually love Flowerstar, she's EPIC. Frostheart is just an annoying pain in the tail.**

 **AOTD2: ****In the** ** _Warriors'_** **world, I'd probably kill off Crowfeather. He's such an emo disgrace to the Clans, it's not even funny anymore. And I'd bring back Hollyleaf… again. If we're talking about this story, I'd bring back Waterkit or Eaglekit. And I'd probably kill off Frostheart, because let's face it, no one would miss her anyways. XD**


	20. Chapter 18: Return to the Clans

**Last chapter was sort of a filler, so I probably should have combined that with this. But oh well. Also I don't have much to say for the review replies honestly, so sorry if they're a bit short.**

 **Snowfall16: ****Aww, thanks. School is fine, but of course, well, you know. It's just school. XD How is your school going?**

 **Okatu Fernsneeze:** **That is interesting. In my school, we still had 'specials' in middle school, which got really annoying. Yeah, I think Hollyleaf should have killed off Sol. Sol was just there to create plot tension in the later books.**

 **No One Important:** **When did school start for you? And yeah, I did include Clove and Talon. They will be quite important in the story. They help Sweetpaw and Whitepaw in this chapter.**

* * *

CHAPTER 18: RETURN TO THE CLANS

Sweetpaw's POV

When I woke up the next morning, Darkpaw had already left the room. I got up, shivering a little, and shook the moss out of my fur. I then walked across the floor to look for the others.

The 'house', as Clove called it, was very big. I had to follow my nose to find them. When I reached the front door, Talon was coming in, carrying three squirrels.

"Morning," he said briefly. "Can you help me here? I need to get this to the others."

"Sure," I agreed, taking one of the squirrels in my mouth and balancing the other on my back. "Um, which way do we go?"

"This way," he answered, leading me down the corridor and turning right.

When we reached it, Clove was in the living room, sitting with the other three. "Hi," she said. "Did you sleep well, Sweetpaw?"

"Yes," I replied.

"Food!" gasped Yellowpaw, seeing the squirrels we were carrying. We all laughed. Talon distributed them evenly: one for Whitepaw and me, one for Darkpaw and Yellowpaw, and one for Clove and himself.

"So, how about getting us home?" I asked.

"I planned out a route to get to the Clans," Talon said, rather curtly. "You're leaving today."

This apparently was Talon when he's being nice. I didn't complain, though; if they were going to get us home, I didn't care how abrupt Talon's speech was. Clove more than made up for him, anyways.

"We'll depart at night only," Clove said. "We cannot go when it's light outside."

I finished my meal, anticipating our return home. I could not wait to get back to training and catch up on all the Clan news I missed. I also was excited to get back home to Harepaw and Silvermoon.

 _When we get home_ , I thought, _we'll tell Sassafrasstar about Goldensun's capture, and make sure he gets back._

* * *

 _That night_

Eaglekit's POV

That night, I woke up in my den. I was feeling a bit tired from the previous night's events, but I knew I'd be fine. I would feel more lively after I got out. I had plans today.

I remembered when Sandfur had told me that I could visit cats through dreams in the Destiny Den. Although I had told Flamepaw I wouldn't visit him through dreams anymore, I suddenly had a reckless idea yesterday morning. I could go to the Destiny Den and visit Flamepaw!

I had good reasons for this plan. First of all, going through the Dream Den would be too risky. I was amazed I hadn't been caught before. But if I went through the Destiny Den in the Dark Forest, no one would ever catch me in a thousand moons. It was perfect.

Secondly, although I had promised Flamepaw I wouldn't visit him, ever since my first encounter with the Dark Forest cats, I'd been thinking about seeing him again. I knew I would, when I came back to life. But I wanted him to be the first to know about it. I wanted to tell him that I'd be able to see him very, very soon.

Before I could talk myself out of the plan, I got up and started to fly out, towards Silverpelt.

* * *

Flying wasn't as fun as before. Generally, when StarClan cats fly, we make a light, swooping motion. But today my movements felt heavy and slow. It actually took energy to fly today.

Like this morning, I stopped myself from worrying. I was probably just tired. A lot did happen yesterday, with the Dark Forest cats.

Soon I reached the border to the Dark Forest. I looked around, and, seeing no one there, leapt across the border.

I walked all the way to the Destiny Den, looking for the entrance. When I found it, I stuck my head in, ready to walk in.

But then I heard a shout.

"What are you doing here?"

* * *

Waterpaw's POV

That night, I went to see Turtlepaw again. We were sitting in the marshes, urgently talking.

"I'm telling you, you need to move to RiverClan," I said.

"It's impossible," she argued. "Do you really think Sassafrasstar will accept me? She hated my mother, and I'm sure she'll hate me too."

"But Turtlepaw"… I began. I was going to tell her that ShadowClan didn't deserve her loyalty if they were going to treat her cruelly, but I decided against it. If Turtlepaw wanted to stick it out, then it was her choice.

"Sorry about that," she apologized. "But I need to do this. I still love my Clan, and I can't leave them" –

"Hey! Waterpaw, is that you?" a voice behind suddenly yelled. I felt something crash into me. For a second all I could see was white fluffy fur. Finally, I looked up to see who had crashed into me.

"Whitepaw?" I asked in shock. Was it really him? I looked at the grinning face, the wide blue eyes, and then knew immediately that it was him. "You're here? You escaped? But… how?"

"I escaped from Luke!" Whitepaw said. "They helped me and Sweetpaw." He pointed to a dark brown she-cat and a huge brown tom.

"This is Clove and this is Talon," Whitepaw explained. "They're siblings. Darkpaw and Yellowpaw, two WindClan apprentices, and Sweetpaw helped me escape. Clove and Talon found us and brought us back here!"

"Hey, Waterpaw!" I heard Sweetpaw say. "What are you doing out so late?"

"I, um, was taking a walk," I said hastily. I quickly looked around, seeing Turtlepaw's dark form under a bush. That was good. I didn't need anyone to find out I was with her.

"They also captured two WindClan apprentices with us," Sweetpaw said. "Their names are Darkpaw and Yellowpaw, but we dropped them off before us."

"We need to get back to camp," said Whitepaw.

"I'll come with you in a second," I said. "Start leaving. There's something I need to do."

Whitepaw nodded.

"Come on!" Sweetpaw shouted. "Race you back to RiverClan camp, Whitepaw!"

Clove laughed at her eagerness.

I went to the bush. Turtlepaw crept out from under, looking a little scared. "You all right?" I asked her.

"Yeah," she sighed. "I'm fine." She got up. "Well, I'd better be going then."

"Waterpaw?" yowled Whitepaw. "I've got some awesome news! Clove and Talon are going to stay in RiverClan for a while"… he skidded to a halt. "What?" he gasped, seeing Turtlepaw for the first time.

* * *

Sandfur's POV

I stood outside the Destiny Den, staring at Eaglekit. "What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Oh, it's only you, Sandfur," he said, in relief. "That's good." He pulled himself out of the den.

"Never mind that," I said. "Why are you here? Shouldn't you be in StarClan?"

"Oh, yeah," he muttered, looking down at his fur. "Well, the reason why I came here is because I wanted to visit my brother Flamepaw."

"Flamepaw?" I asked in shock.

"Yeah, Flamepaw," he said eagerly. "I wanted to visit him in a dream, but I don't know how."

I thought for a minute. There was no way I wanted him to visit Flamepaw. I had already tried to convince Flamepaw to join us, and he'd seen through it. If Eaglekit mentioned me or any of the Dark Forest cats, Flamepaw would convince him that we were too evil. That could never do.

"Eaglekit, that is a very dangerous thing you attempted," I finally said. "Please don't do that. You could get hurt." I was surprised at the sincerity in my voice.

There it was, that pang in my chest. I tried to ignore it, but it seemed to be getting stronger every time I even thought about Eaglekit.

"But why?" he pouted. "I just want to see my brother."

I quickly thought. "Look, even if the den has enough power in it for us to visit someone in their sleep, it doesn't mean we should," I said. "I haven't attempted it myself. We have to wait for the den to gain enough power for it to be perfectly safe."

Eaglekit still looked upset, so I quickly added, "Tell you what – when the den gets enough power for us to go to the living world, I'll take you to see Flamepaw. How does that sound?"

"Great!" Eaglekit jumped up excitedly.

"Well, that's settled then," I said, feeling the pang in my chest. Again.

 _You'd better stop it this instant_ , I thought fiercely. _I'm still one of the most powerful cats in the Dark Forest. I am_ NOT _weak._

"I'm so glad it was you who found me and not the others," Eaglekit continued. "The others – especially Flowerstar – scare me a little, no offense to them. But you're really nice. I can tell you're not like them."

"Thanks," I said awkwardly, feeling about three thousand pangs hitting my chest at once. "Well, I should be going. You'd better go, too."

"Okay. Bye!" Eaglekit bounded up the hill, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

 _Will Eaglekit be alright?_ I thought. Then I stopped myself. Why did I even care?

 _You should stop worrying about Eaglekit_ , I told myself firmly. _So what if you're deceiving him? So what if he trusts you? That's his problem, not yours. The point of this whole thing is to get revenge on the cats you hate, not to start caring for a stupid little kit who shouldn't even be a part of your plan in the first place!_

"I will defeat you, Sassafrasstar," I vowed. "If I break Eaglekit's heart in the process, then I will. I'm not going to let you get away with what you did."

* * *

Waterpaw's POV

For a while, Turtlepaw and Whitepaw just stared at each other. Finally Whitepaw spoke.

"Why is a ShadowClan cat in RiverClan territory?" asked Whitepaw.

"Er, um"… Turtlepaw began.

"It's a long story," I sighed. Then I turned to Turtlepaw. "You'd better go. I'll explain to him."

Turtlepaw nodded and ran off.

"What's going on?" Whitepaw demanded.

I explained to him that we had started meeting in secret and about everything that was going on with ShadowClan. I didn't tell him about Heronpaw's blackmail, because I figured that would complicate things. When I was done, Whitepaw stared at me.

"You can't keep meeting like this. You know that inter-Clan relationships are forbidden. Sassafrasstar will be furious when she finds out."

I glared at him. "Are you implying that you're going to _tattle_ on me?"

"I meant, _if_ Sassafrasstar finds out," Whitepaw corrected himself. "And even worse, she's Flowerstar's daughter. Don't you remember? She warned us all to stay away from her."

I began to feel very angry. "I'm sorry, I forgot. She's Flowerstar's daughter. That makes her an evil cat."

"I didn't say that!" Whitepaw exclaimed. He looked troubled. "All I'm telling you is that it would be better if you dropped her now, before everyone finds out."

"It's not like we're in a relationship!" I protested. "Inter-Clan _friendships_ aren't forbidden."

"True." Whitepaw started to leave. "But what if they develop into a relationship? You know that's fully possible, Waterpaw. I'm not telling you what to do. I'll keep your secret. I'm just warning you that this is a very bad idea."

I nodded. "All right then. Thanks Whitepaw."

Whitepaw shrugged. "No big deal. Now let's go back to the RiverClan camp."

We caught up with Clove, Talon, and Sweetpaw, who were waiting for us near the island. Then we started towards home.

* * *

 **So Whitepaw has found out about the thing between Turtlepaw and Waterpaw! It's about time that happened. And this can only lead to trouble later on…**

 **QOTD: ****This is a random question I just thought of: what's your favorite color?**

 **Bye for now!**


	21. Chapter 19: Border Troubles

**Hey, what's up? For those of you following GSC, I'm sorry, I won't be able to update it today. I still haven't written a chapter for it. But I'll upload it next week.**

 **Snowfall16: ****Yellow is actually one of my favorite colors, too. It was blue for a very long time, but then I got bored of it, because blue can be depressing sometimes.**

 **Gummikid180: ****Thanks! Good to see you again. How are things going?**

* * *

CHAPTER 19: BORDER TROUBLES

Swanpaw's POV

"Wake up, Swanpaw! Whitepaw and Sweetpaw have returned!"

I opened an eye, confused. "What? What are you talking about?"

Waterpaw stood over me, beaming. "You're the only cat not awake. Whitepaw and Sweetpaw have escaped from Luke, and they're in Bluemist's den. Everyone is bombarding them with questions. You've got to see this!"

I immediately got up and ran to the medicine den. All of the apprentices were in there, asking him how he was. Next to Whitepaw and Sweetpaw were two unfamiliar cats that I didn't know. They looked identical, with brown fur and chestnut stripes.

"You might as well stop asking questions," Whitepaw said, though he was grinning. "Sassafrasstar will call a meeting at sunhigh and then I'll give you a full update! How does that sound?"

Then he saw me, and grinned. "Hey Swanpaw! How are you doing?"

"Good to see you," I replied, grinning. "Though you're still annoying!"

"Who are you and what have you done with Swanpaw?" asked Whitepaw. "I miss your old self. You used to be always snapping and snarling at me."

I gave him a mock glare. "My old self may come back anytime it wants. So watch what you say."

"Apprentices!" I heard Lightsky's stern voice. "All of you come out. You need to get to your duties. Harepaw, it's your turn to clean the elders' den. Swanpaw, Flamepaw, you're needed at a hunting patrol. Greenpaw, Heronpaw, Waterpaw, border patrol! There will be time to talk to Whitepaw and Sweetpaw later. Now get to work!"

* * *

At sunhigh, we all assembled under the Lakeledge, while Whitepaw and Sweetpaw told us how they'd escaped. Behind me, I heard Greenpaw and Heronpaw whispering with each other, as usual. "So the kits returned," Heronpaw sneered.

I bristled. How dare Heronpaw act so rude towards Whitepaw and Sweetpaw? He should be glad they were back! Even for Heronpaw, that was mean.

Greenpaw seemed to be going along with what Heronpaw was saying, nodding here and there. I sighed. As much as I hated him, I knew things weren't easy for Greenpaw. His mother had been killed in a fire when my siblings and I were two moons old. I knew how it felt when someone close to me died; after all, I felt miserable when Eaglekit died. But that didn't give Greenpaw the right to be such a jerk.

Whitepaw explained to us about how he had escaped. "Darkpaw and Yellowpaw, two apprentices of WindClan, escaped with us. Clove and Talon gave us shelter and brought us back here."

"Thank you for your help," Sassafrasstar said gratefully to the two. "We are in your debt. I would appreciate it if you stayed in RiverClan for a while, until you have recovered enough strength to go back home."

"Sure," Clove said. "We probably should stay here. Maybe we could help your Clan overthrow Luke. We despise him as much as you do."

"I'm normally not a big fan of staying with a group, but for once, I agree with my sister," Talon said.

"Your help would be most appreciated," Sassafrasstar agreed.

Then suddenly Frostheart spoke up. "Do you know what I think?" she demanded. "I suspect these two rouges. They could be in league with Luke. And now that I think of it, Whitepaw and Sweetpaw could be spies! How can we trust them when they've been gone so long?"

There was a gasp of rage at Frostheart's words. Sassafrasstar looked shocked. But I had enough of Frostheart's behavior. I got up and glared at her.

"You know what, Frostheart? How dare you going around accusing others of betrayal? If anyone here is the traitor, I'd bet on it being _you_ , the way you go around accusing everyone else! Leave them alone!"

There was another gasp of shock at this, and Sassafrasstar finally recovered. She glared down at me.

"Swanpaw, that is enough. You have no right to accuse someone else of betrayal without proof! Frostheart is a senior warrior, and she deserves respect. Apologize to her now."

"But"… I protested, but Sassafrasstar glared even more fiercely.

"Now," she said firmly.

"Fine, sorry," I mumbled, glaring at Frostheart.

"Thank you," Frostheart said in her snide voice.

"I haven't finished." Sassafrasstar turned to Frostheart. "I have had enough of your false accusations! You are not without fault either. How dare you accuse Clove and Talon of being spies when they sheltered Whitepaw and Sweetpaw, and, from what else I've heard, two other WindClan apprentices? You should be ashamed of yourself!"

Frostheart looked furious. "All I was doing was" –

"I am your leader, Frostheart. Your LEADER! Learn your place and stop acting like the Clan deputy. It is my job to find out who the traitor is, not yours."

Frostheart started to speak, but Sassafrasstar silenced her. "This meeting is over." Then she turned around and walked into her den.

The Clan was still in chaos after what happened. I saw Whitepaw, Waterpaw, and Harepaw talking about it and went to join them.

"I can't believe that Frostheart did that," Harepaw said. "Why did she accuse you, Whitepaw? She's always thought _I_ was the traitor!"

Waterpaw snorted. "She thinks that _everyone's_ betrayed RiverClan in some shape or form." He cast an admiring glance at me. "By the way, that was _awesome_ , Swanpaw. You gave that mean old she-cat what she deserved."

"Just stay away from her from now on," Whitepaw advised. "She's gonna have it out for you now."

I rolled my eyes. "I don't care." I wasn't afraid of Frostheart.

"We should stop worrying about this traitor business," Waterpaw advised. "If you ask me, Luke just announced that plot so we'd all turn upon each other. It's what he wants, so our Clan will be weaker."

"You think so?" asked Harepaw, looking relieved.

"I know so."

* * *

Today was the day that Flamepaw and I had our second solo hunting test. In order to pass, we had to bring back at least three pieces of prey.

"Flamepaw, I'd like you to hunt downriver, near the lake," said Carpflight.

"Swanpaw, you're hunting upriver, in the marsh," Spottedsky said.

"The marsh," I groaned, covering my face with my paws. Flamepaw shot me a look of sympathy.

"We'll wait here for you to come back," Carpflight said. "Unlike your last test, we will not follow you while hunting. You will only be graded on how much you catch."

"Oh, and by the way, one of your catches has to be on land," Spottedsky added before dismissing us.

I started off towards my assigned spot. This leaf-bare had actually not been very cold. Sassafrasstar told us all of the stories about how cold last leaf-bare was, so I was terrified. She was very surprised to find out that this year, it has seemed to be quite warm. No one has gone hungry this year.

While I was walking, I saw Sweetpaw nearby, sitting in the marsh and humming. "Sweetpaw?" I asked, surprised.

Sweetpaw stopped mid-song and stared at me. "Hi," she said, looking surprised to see me there. "What are you up to? I was hunting."

I snorted impatiently. "Well, can you stop singing? I have to catch something on land, and no prey is going to appear with you yowling over the place."

"Fine," she said, sounding annoyed. "I'll go hunt with Harepaw." She disappeared into the trees.

I scanned the river, looking for fish. It didn't take too long for a magnificent trout to appear. I reached down and grabbed it joyfully. Then I waited patiently for another fish to come. Soon I had a carp. After burying the two, I went looking for land prey.

Soon I saw something beautiful. A goose was sitting comfortably on the river! I was surprised to see a goose at this time of the year. Nevertheless, it was a huge goose, so it would definitely feed all of the elders and even allow for a few apprentices to have a taste. It also would count as a land catch.

I carefully got into a crouch. The wind was blowing towards me, so I was safe. Then I quietly started to creep forwards. The goose didn't notice until it was too late. As it frantically flapped its wings, I leapt high into the air and pounced. The goose tried to escape, but it was too late.

I grinned. This was great! I proceeded to bury the goose into the ground.

As I was doing this, I heard something behind me. "Who's that?" I asked, turning around. "Sweetpaw? Is that you?"

"No it is not," said the voice, and I saw someone creep out from under the pine tree. I stared in horror.

It was Darkstar.

"First RiverClan cat to trespass onto my territory, eh?" Darkstar asked, a wide smile on his face. "I didn't think it would be an apprentice."

"I'm not trespassing," I protested.

"Yes you are," he replied. "Look down at your feet."

I looked down. I saw that only my front right paw was over the scent line! Every other paw was in RiverClan. That didn't count! "I'm still not trespassing," I replied angrily. "So you can't do anything about it."

"We'll see about that." Darkstar roughly grabbed me. "I _did_ say we would be strictly enforcing our border security. We'll give you a trial, and I'll decide whether you live or not."

"All I did was put _one paw_ over the stupid border!' I yowled, trying desperately to pull myself out of his grip. "Leave me alone!"

"Don't argue with me, apprentice," he replied. "It's time for me to get my revenge."

Laughing, he pulled me along into the pines.

* * *

Flamepaw's POV

I had absolutely no luck with hunting. I sat down, frustrated. I was going to fail. I had never really been that good of a hunter, but this was an all-time low, even for me. I had tried wandering a bit upriver so I could find some fish, but I had no luck there.

As I sat down, I heard a yell.

"All I did was put one paw over…" was what I heard. It sounded like Swanpaw!

Was she being threatened by a ShadowClan warrior? I had to help her! I carefully made my way through the marsh to find Swanpaw. When I reached the scent line, I could strongly smell Swanpaw's scent mingled with… Darkstar.

I gulped. This was going to be even more troublesome than I'd thought! Now how were we going to get Swanpaw back?

Suddenly, a crazy idea came into my head. I tried to brush it off, but it stayed there.

I could go into ShadowClan myself! I'd pop in, rescue Swanpaw, and come back! The Clan would be so pleased! They'd admire me for being so brave.

As I sat there, formulating a plan, I heard a rustle behind me. Harepaw and Sweetpaw were emerging from the bushes.

"We heard everything Darkstar said to Swanpaw," Sweetpaw said. "What do we do now?"

"Let's go rescue her!" I said.

"What! We can't do that!" Harepaw exclaimed.

"Oh come on Harepaw. This is a good idea!" argued Sweetpaw.

"But it's dangerous!"

"You can stay here if you want," I said. "But Sweetpaw and I are going."

"You go," Harepaw answered. "But I'm staying."

"Let's go, Sweetpaw." We trotted across the border line into ShadowClan territory.

* * *

 **Yeah, Greenpaw's mom was killed in the fire that Whitepaw mentioned. It's not a very important detail, but I figured I'd mention it.**

 **I had this idea about sending sneak peeks to everyone who reviews. How about that? I've seen other authors do this, and I thought it was a good idea. This won't apply to guest reviews, unfortunately, because I won't be able to send you anything by PM.**

 **There is also a catch. I'll only send you a sneak peek if you review on Sunday. I won't have time to be on this site during the week, because of school and all. So, you'd have to review fast, so that I have time to send you the sneak peek. I normally update on Sunday mornings, so this should give you enough time to review.**

 **What do you guys think? If you think this is a good idea, I'll start sending sneak peeks next week. If not, well, I just won't do it.**

 **Oh yeah, and here's the AOTD:**

 **AOTD: ****I like a lot of colors, but my favorite is purple. I know that's sort of typical for, well, a girl *makes an annoyed face*, but it is one of my faves. Yellow would be next, and then green.**

 **QOTD: ****We were just talking about colors, so: what color do you think Scourge's collar is?**


	22. Chapter 20: Sneaking Into ShadowClan

**Due to the limited support I got for the sneak peek idea, I'm not doing it. Not many people seemed that interested in the idea, and there's really no point in it anyways, since I update every week. Besides, it wouldn't be fair to the guest reviewers, who read the story and review like everyone else, yet wouldn't be able to receive a sneak-peek.**

 **Anyways, down to review replies:**

 **Snowfall16: ****I think the reason why people like blue and green so much is because they're cool colors. But yeah, it makes sense that it'd sort of be like a survival instinct thing, too. Me, I prefer the warm colors. Blue used to be my favorite color, but not so much anymore.**

 **Featherfrost of StormClan:** **Really? You thought of this as a troll-fic? That's funny. Why, is it because of the title or something I said in the summary?**

 **Okatu Fernsneeze:** **Agreed. Darkstar is very annoying. If you hated him last chapter, you're going to hate him even more now… From what I've seen, a lot of people think that purple is Scourge's collar color. Come to think of it, purple is also a color most fans use for Mary-sues… I think purple is just a favorite color for practically everyone in the fandom.**

 **Tumblebreeze: ****Thanks! So you think of Scourge's collar as something on the warm spectrum? That's interesting. Me, I think it's probably something cold, to represent his cold, uncaring personality. Hot colors are something I'd associate with Tigerstar or Thistleclaw, because they always acted out of anger.**

* * *

CHAPTER 20: SNEAKING INTO SHADOWCLAN

Sweetpaw's POV

I was nervous to go, but I didn't show it. I was annoyed at Harepaw for not coming. He should have supported me. I love him, but honestly, he can be such a scaredy-mouse at times.

"We need to go and do this," Flamepaw said. I knew exactly what he was thinking. He needed to prove his worth to the Clan, and this was how he was going to do it.

"How will we rescue Swanpaw?" I asked.

"Easy. We, um"… Flamepaw growled. I could see he had absolutely no idea.

"Never mind," I said quickly. "StarClan will help us."

Flamepaw nodded and we continued on our journey. We knew that the stronger the ShadowClan scent was, the closer we were coming to their camp. Right now, it seemed to be getting stronger and stronger.

Then I suddenly stopped. The scent was getting too strong. "Flamepaw, we need to stop now," I said, but he wasn't paying attention.

A ShadowClan cat suddenly appeared in front of us.

* * *

Harepaw's POV

Even before they crossed the scent line, I knew they were never going to make it.

The ShadowClan camp is right at the heart of the territory. It's a long distance to walk. Even if they somehow managed to make it, ShadowClan patrols are always guarding their camp. If they managed to infiltrate the camp, it would only be a matter of seconds before they were caught.

I knew there was only one thing to do: go tell Sassafrasstar. I turned towards our camp and started running as fast as my paws could take me.

As I reached the camp, I saw Whitepaw coming towards me. "Hey, Harepaw! How are you doing?"

I frowned at him. Now was not the time. I had to get to Sassafrasstar immediately.

"Is there something wrong?" Whitepaw asked.

"It's something to do with Swanpaw, Flamepaw, and Sweetpaw," I answered.

"Well, what happened to them?"

"Swanpaw was catnapped by Darkstar," I said. "Flamepaw and Sweetpaw decided to go after her. And I know they're not going to make it to ShadowClan camp. It's too far."

Whitepaw stared at me in alarm. "We have to go tell Sassafrasstar right away," he declared.

"That's exactly what I'm doing," I said. "Let's go." We turned around and sprinted towards camp.

* * *

Flamepaw's POV

"Another RiverClan cat?" the ShadowClan warrior in front of us gasped. "Looks like we have plenty of apprentices we need to deal with."

"Flamepaw!" I heard Sweetpaw yell.

"Looks like we have another one." The warrior grabbed Sweetpaw. "I'm going to have to take you to our camp."

"Just great," I growled. "And what did you do with Swanpaw? We came to get her!"

"You're not getting her back," the tom answered. "She made a poor decision, wandering into our territory like that. She needs to be punished. And you need to be punished for doing the same thing."

There was nothing else to say. We were forced into ShadowClan camp with the warrior.

* * *

Whitepaw's POV

As soon as we reached the camp, I went straight to Sassafrasstar. She was sitting on the Lakeledge, looking at her paws. "Harepaw and I have something to say to you," I said.

"What is it?" Sassafrasstar asked shortly, barely looking up. She looked depressed. Her once shining gray pelt was dull, looking as if she hadn't bothered to wash it in a moon. Maybe she hadn't.

"Well, it's about Flamepaw, Swanpaw, and Sweetpaw," I said. "They" –

Sassafrasstar's head shot up. "Don't tell me that they've been captured by Luke!" she yowled. The horrified look on her face would have been very funny if the situation weren't so serious.

"No," Harepaw said quickly. "But during Swanpaw's solo assessment, she was taken by ShadowClan for accidentally stepping over the border. Flamepaw and Sweetpaw decided to go on a rescue mission and find her."

Sassafrasstar nodded. "And so you've come to warn me. Thank you for telling me this." She marched straight to the edge, shouting, "All cats join around for a meeting!"

"What's going on?" Spottedsky shouted.

"Can't it wait till we're done eating?" Frostypool asked grumpily.

Sassafrasstar frowned at her. "This is serious. I have just been informed that Swanpaw was captured by ShadowClan. Sweetpaw and Flamepaw decided to wander into enemy territory and find her. We're going to go and get all of them back."

Cries of outrage filled the air.

"How can they capture her like that?"

"This is insane!"

"Silence!" Sassafrasstar roared. "Listen. I will lead a patrol. Badgerfoot, Mossfoot, Dustyfoot, Duskpelt, Volewhisker, Brindlefire, Snakescale, and their apprentices. Whitepaw and Harepaw will also go, as they were the ones to inform me of what is going on."

I thought of the torture Sweetpaw, Flamepaw, and Swanpaw were going through with Darkstar. Would we ever rescue them?

* * *

Swanpaw's POV

I was stuck in the medicine den with two other apprentices who were taken as prisoner. They were both ThunderClan cats. The she-cat was named Squirrelpaw and the tom was Lionpaw.

"We need to get out of here," Lionpaw said, looking angry. "They have no right to keep us in here."

"Well, do you have any ideas?" Squirrelpaw asked dubiously.

Leafsplash, the cat who was guarding us, stuck her head inside. "Don't even think about it," she snarled. "If you think you can escape from here, think again. Darkstar would claw your eyes out if he had heard you had said that."

I believed her. Darkstar was _evil_. There was no other way of putting it.

"We've got two other trespassers," I suddenly heard a tom's voice from outside. My eyes widened as I saw two cats standing outside. "Sweetpaw? Flamepaw? What are you doing here?"

"Ah, so you know them?" the tom grinned. "They came into ShadowClan territory looking for you. They thought they could rescue you and outsmart an entire Clan of warriors. How pathetic."

"Send them in," Leafsplash grunted.

Flamepaw and Sweetpaw came in, looking very subdued. I was furious with them. "Why did you come looking for me?" I demanded. "You should have just gone and told Sassafrasstar, and she would have come. Now we're _both_ stuck, and there's no one to save us."

"Harepaw refused to come with us," Sweetpaw replied. "I'm sure he had enough sense to go and alert Sassafrasstar. We'll be liberated soon." She spoke confidently, but I could tell that she didn't believe her words.

"You should be thanking us," Flamepaw replied. "We tried to get you out of the prison. And now at least you're not alone here anymore."

"What are Squirrelpaw and I, chopped mouse whiskers?" Lionpaw quipped from the side.

"Look, let's not fight," Sweetpaw said, pushing through between us. "We're all here, so we might as well face what is to happen next together."

Nothing more was said after that. But I still was mad at Flamepaw and Sweetpaw. Why did they have to come looking for us?

* * *

Suddenly, we heard a rustle from outside. I peeked outside of the den. A tortoiseshell she-cat was approaching Leafsplash, holding two rats. "Leafsplash?" she said. "Darkstar sent me to feed the prisoners."

The she-cat flicked her tail irritably. "Very well then. Go on in."

The she-cat came into the den with two rats. I grimaced at the look of them, and she saw my expression. "It's not much," she meowed, "but it's all we have."

"Thanks," Lionpaw said sarcastically.

"At least they're feeding us," Squirrelpaw sighed. She took the smaller of the two rats for her and Lionpaw to share, while leaving the larger one for Sweetpaw, Flamepaw, and me.

I looked at the tortoiseshell she-cat. I remembered seeing her at the Gathering, but I couldn't place it… Then it hit me. "You're Turtlepaw," I said. "Flowerstar's daughter."

Turtlepaw's eyes narrowed. "Do you need to do that?" she grumbled. She started to turn away and walk to the exit.

"Wait, I didn't mean it as a judgment," I said. She stopped and turned around to listen. "I didn't say that was wrong or anything. Um… thanks for bringing us food."

Turtlepaw allowed herself a small smile. "You're welcome. I met your Clanmate Waterpaw. He was nice."

I was shocked. Turtlepaw knew Waterpaw? How did they know each other from different Clans?

"We met each other at the Gathering," Turtlepaw added quickly, noticing the look on my face.

"Come on Turtlepaw. You've spent way too much time in there already!" Leafsplash yowled from outside.

"Coming!" Turtlepaw replied, and she ran outside. I heard Leafsplash scolding her about not talking to enemy cats. Then there was silence. I sat down and closed my eyes.

Was there more going on between Turtlepaw and Waterpaw? I wasn't fooled by her Gathering story – I saw a surprised look in her eyes, as if she had let out something that was supposed to be a secret. Whatever it was, I had to ask Waterpaw about it. That is, if we ever got out of here alive.

* * *

Sweetpaw's POV

We were stuck in the den until climbing-sun, when Leafsplash shouted for us.

"Apprentices, come out here. Darkstar is ready to see you!"

"You've got to be kidding," Flamepaw muttered.

Leafsplash glared at me. "Do you dare defy the orders of Darkstar?" she growled.

"Well actually, I do, because he's not my leader," Flamepaw pointed out.

"What is taking so long?" Darkstar thundered from the Darkledge. "I need those apprentices now!"

"Come _on_!" Leafsplash hissed, and pulled us all along. Darkstar was standing on the Darkledge with a smirk on his face.

"I told you in the last Gathering," he said, "that I would severely punish any intruders. I cannot make any exceptions, even for half-brained apprentices."

Swanpaw made an indignant noise but wisely decided not to say anything.

"Stand up," Darkstar ordered. We stood. "I have found you five guilty of trespassing on my territory. Do you have anything to say before the sentencing?"

I stared at him incredulously. "This is such an unfair trial! You've already convicted us without giving us a chance to say anything! And it was over a minor issue!"

"That's why I'm giving you a chance to speak now," Darkstar replied, a gleam in his eyes.

"I just stepped one paw over the line," Swanpaw protested. "You don't have to be so protective of your borders! It's not that big of a deal!"

"Well," Darkstar said smoothly, "yes, Swanpaw, you didn't stray too far from your territory. But your friends" – he pointed to Flamepaw and me – "went too far. I'll be nicer to you, but those two are in big trouble."

I backed up. "What are you going to do?" I asked, trembling.

"This," he replied, and jumped down from the Darkledge. He slashed Flamepaw hard across the ears. Flamepaw yelped and unsheathed his claws.

"Your punishment," he said to Lionpaw, Squirrelpaw, and Swanpaw, "is to watch." He then turned to me.

I unsheathed my claws. I was not going down without a fight. Darkstar advanced on me, his lip curled. He pounced, but I was ready. I ran from under him and leapt onto his back.

Darkstar screeched in pain as the other four apprentices joined me, shoving him down so his legs buckled from under him.

"Stop!" I suddenly heard a yowl. I saw a tortoiseshell she-cat running towards us. She knocked me over. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Turtlepaw?" Swanpaw asked in shock as she ran over to Darkstar, who was still lying on the ground. "Are you all right?" Turtlepaw asked.

Darkstar lifted his head. "These apprentices attacked me," he growled. "All… five… of… them… at… once"… He put his head back down.

"Darkstar, you can't do this!" Turtlepaw protested. "You don't need to make such a big fuss over borders! It's not that big of a deal!"

"But if they cross the borders again, they could hurt another one of my cats!" Darkstar wailed.

"You're talking nonsense," Turtlepaw said firmly. "Listen to yourself! How do you expect apprentices to kill full-grown warriors?"

"So you're being disloyal to me now?" Darkstar glared at her. "I need you to swear allegiance to me. Are you loyal to ShadowClan or not?"

Turtlepaw backed up. "I'm loyal to ShadowClan, not to you!"

"How does that even make sense?" Darkstar's tone grew dangerous. "All right then." He suddenly moved towards me, and without warning, pounced. I yelped and tried to struggle, but he was too strong. Flamepaw tried to come forwards to save me.

"Make one move and this apprentice is dead!" Darkstar yelled at Flamepaw. "And as for you, Turtlepaw." His tone suddenly became sweet. "If you want to prove your loyalty to ShadowClan, then kill her. Do it, and I'll make you a warrior straightaway. You won't even need to pass a test."

Time seemed to fall in slow motion. I saw Flamepaw and Squirrelpaw looking terrified, while Swanpaw and Lionpaw glared at Turtlepaw. Turtlepaw seemed to be standing motionless, thinking of what response to give. Finally she shook her head.

"Like I said, I'm loyal to ShadowClan, but not to you. Killing unless absolutely necessary is against the warrior code."

Darkstar glared at her, a look of absolute disgust in his look. "Very well, then. I'll do it myself." He raised his claw. I tried to struggle, but I couldn't move.

But before he could strike, a loud voice echoed from the clearing.

"Stop!"

* * *

Harepaw's POV

We marched out towards the Darkledge. I stared at Darkstar, who was on top of Sweetpaw. Flamepaw and Swanpaw were standing on the side. Next to them were two apprentices that looked to be from ThunderClan.

For a second, Sassafrasstar didn't look like she knew what to say. She kept gaping at Darkstar. Then two seconds later, she stormed towards the Darkledge. In a moment, she had shoved Darkstar off of Sweetpaw and helped the apprentice to her paws.

"Sweetpaw!" I yelled from the crowd. She gave me an _I'm fine_ look. She obviously didn't look fine, but whatever. I'd have to ask her what had happened afterwards.

"What is the meaning of this?" Sassafrasstar yelled at Darkstar. "You have taken my apprentices as hostages, and I saw you trying to hurt one of them! This is unacceptable!"

"They wandered into my land!" Darkstar protested. He was trying to sound assertive, but his efforts to defend himself were futile. Behind me, Greenpaw and Heronpaw were starting to snicker.

This was causing quite a scene in the camp. I saw several ShadowClan warriors, apprentices, and elders coming out of their dens to watch. Kits tried to poke their heads out from the nursery, but their mothers pulled them back.

On the corner of my eye, I saw another group of cats behind us. ThunderClan! Crowstar and Goldenear stood at the front of the line, looking grim. Behind them stood rows of ThunderClan warriors. Their brightly-colored pelts stood out against the dark pelt-colors of the ShadowClan cats.

"They're here as well?" Darkstar whined. "I can't deal with two Clans at once!"

"You should have thought about that before stealing apprentices from two different Clans," Crowstar said grimly. "It appears that you have taken Flamepaw, Swanpaw, and Sweetpaw of RiverClan, as well as Lionpaw and Squirrelpaw from my Clan."

"Give those apprentices back now!" his deputy, Goldenear, yelled. "Or we'll make you pay."

"Yeah, sure. Not going to happen," Darkstar answered.

"You can't do this!" Turtlepaw cried. "Stop it, Darkstar. Let them go."

"I knew it! You're betraying me," Darkstar yelled. "You know what, I've had enough of your disloyalty. You are no longer part of this Clan!"

Turtlepaw gasped. "What?"

"I have had it!" Darkstar snarled. "I should have never agreed to have let the kit of Flowerstar join my Clan. It's because of cats like you that I'm starting to go insane!"

"You're _already_ insane!" Turtlepaw shot back. "And if you are going to be so cruel, then I don't want to be part of your Clan. I'm going to join RiverClan."

"Ah ha ha ha!" Darkstar sneered. "Do you really think that they're going to accept you? You've already switched Clans twice!"

"Yes we will." Sassafrasstar suddenly said. She drew herself to her full height and glared at Darkstar.

"You what?" Darkstar sputtered.

"I said, she can join my Clan," Sassafrasstar repeated. "She's proven herself to be worthy." But then she turned to face Turtlepaw. "But I'm only letting you stay for a short while. Once this war is over, you're going straight back."

"I will," Turtlepaw vowed.

Some warriors from ShadowClan came to join Turtlepaw. I recognized them as Rabbittail, Swampnose, and Smokepelt. "We don't want to be in ShadowClan either," Rabbittail added. "We're tired of your attitude towards all of the Clans."

"And now my warriors are betraying me, too?" Darkstar's face was a picture of disbelief.

"No," Smokepelt said, "it is you who has betrayed us, and the rest of this Clan. We've had enough. We're leaving."

Darkstar thought for a minute, then spat onto the ground.

"Fine. Take your cats. But don't think you're getting off that easily," he added threateningly. "This isn't over."

Sassafrasstar led Sweetpaw, Swanpaw, Flamepaw, and Turtlepaw back to the Clan, as did Crowstar with his apprentices. Before stepping towards us, she turned towards Darkstar and meowed, "You do realize what you've done, right? You've made it into a war. This isn't just about Featherheart anymore. Now it's _really_ personal."

"I know someone from RiverClan killed her," Darkstar growled. "There was RiverClan scent on her wounds."

Sassafrasstar shook her head. "We're not debating this again." She turned back towards the Clan and said, "We're going home."

* * *

 **This marks about the half-way point of this story. I've decided there's going to be about forty chapters or so, but I still haven't figured out if that includes the epilogue or not.**

 **AOTD: ****I think Scourge's collar should be black. It's the ultimate evil color, absence of light, or of anything. Scourge is such a cool, uncaring villain. Black would clash with his black fur, though, so maybe gray or brown would also work.**

 **QOTD: ****Do you think RiverClan will accept Turtlepaw?**

 **Your review would be most appreciated. :) See ya next chapter.**


	23. Chapter 21: The Secret is Out

**Hey, sorry I didn't update last week. I went on vacation and I forgot to update on Friday, so there was no chapter. I felt bad about that. I'd have posted another chapter along with this one, except I don't have many chapters left.**

 **Snowfall16: ****Oh yeah, purple would work for Scourge's collar. It's funny, pretty much the whole fandom sees Scourge with a purple collar. Yeah, that's true, we don't see much of RiverClan's reaction, aside from Swanpaw's complaining. That's true, BloodClan didn't really want to fight the Clans, though maybe there was more information about that in** ** _The Rise of Scourge_** **series. I don't know, because I haven't read it.**

 **No One Important:** **Hey, I forgot to ask, but is your computer working now? It's fine if it isn't, but I hope your computer's working. I remember in 5** **th** **grade, when my laptop crashed and wouldn't work for an entire month. It really sucked going without a computer for that long. Yeah, Darkstar has serious mental problems. He's not even justified in what he's doing anymore. And it's fine if you don't review every chapter. I get it, school is difficult.**

* * *

CHAPTER 21: THE SECRET IS OUT

Flamepaw's POV

It was decided that Swampnose and Turtlepaw would come with us, while Rabbittail and Smokepelt would go to ThunderClan. Before we left, Crowstar spoke to Sassafrasstar. "I'm so thankful you showed up to ShadowClan at the same time as us," he meowed. "Without you, we would not have been able to defeat Darkstar.

"Well, our apprentices were captured too, so we had to go to ShadowClan," Sassafrasstar pointed out.

"I've been thinking about something," Crowstar said. "Why don't we form an alliance so we can defeat Darkstar? He's obviously going to be after both of our Clans now, so we should team up together and teach that fox-heart how to behave."

"I don't see why not," Sassafrasstar said. "That's an excellent idea, Crowstar."

Crowstar smiled. "See you around," he told her. Then he dipped his head and went off to join his Clan.

* * *

We were silent all the way back. Although I still hadn't recovered from the shock of being catnapped, something about what Darkstar said still haunted me. _There was RiverClan scent on her wounds…_

Then it hit me. Of course. How could we all be so stupid? It was so obvious, yet none of us had even thought of it!

"Sassafrasstar?" I asked, running up to join my mother.

"Yes?" she prompted, barely turning around to look at me.

"I've just realized something important," I gasped. "You know how Luke said that we had a traitor in the Clan?"

"Do you have any idea who it was?" she asked, fiercely. "Tell me, and I will immediately question him or her."

"I don't know who it was," I admitted, slowing my pace. "But Darkstar was so sure that it was a RiverClan warrior that killed Featherheart. Don't you see? It was definitely the traitor who killed her!"

"But how do you know it was a RiverClan cat?" answered Sassafrasstar. "Of course there was RiverClan scent on her; she was on the RiverClan border. It could have been a cat from the Legion who killed her and left her on our border to frame us."

"Yes," I argued, "but if any cat would have killed her, it would have to be the traitor."

Sassafrasstar nodded. "I see your point," she said. "We'll discuss that later. As soon as we get home, I want to see you in my den."

I knew Sassafrasstar well enough to know I was probably in trouble. Well, what was I supposed to do? I couldn't just stand there and let Darkstar bully Swanpaw around. I had to do something!

When we reached the camp, Sassafrasstar climbed the Lakeledge. "I want to see Flamepaw, Sweetpaw, Harepaw, and Frostheart and Wildwater."

We went to her den. Silvermoon was already there, and when she saw us, she went straight up to Sweetpaw. "What were you thinking?" she snapped. "I cannot believe you were so fish-brained! We lost Goldensun. Do I really need you to go wandering off somewhere as well?"

"I will deal with this," Sassafrasstar began, but Silvermoon cut her off.

"You don't see Harepaw doing this, do you?" Silvermoon ranted. "You should be more practical! Instead of just jumping pawsfirst into everything, use your head!"

"Well, this is new," Harepaw muttered. "Normally, everyone is always telling me to be more like my sister."

Sweetpaw looked furious. "Don't blame me if Harepaw is such a scaredy-mouse!" she yelled. "I was just being loyal to the Clan. You should be thanking me!"

"Enough!" Sassafrasstar intervened. When she spoke, her tone was slightly amused. "You shouldn't be mad at your daughter, Silvermoon. I seem to remember a certain mischievous apprentice who snuck off to WindClan in search of her sister."

Silvermoon ruffled her pelt, looking embarrassed.

"I know you two should not have gone off to look for Swanpaw," Sassafrasstar said, giving Sweetpaw and me a stern look. "But I actually had a question for Wildwater and Frostheart. Do you think Sweetpaw and Harepaw should be promoted to be warriors just yet?"

"Already?" gasped Sweetpaw and Frostheart at the same time, but for different reasons. Both of their eyes showed disbelief – except while Sweetpaw showed joy in her expression, Frostheart seemed disappointed.

"Definitely." Sassafrasstar smiled, not noticing the expression on Frostheart's face. "Harepaw, you showed good judgment when you came to tell me about what happened. And Sweetpaw, you showed exceptional bravery." She looked at her paws nervously. "And if we are going to survive against what is to come next, we need more warriors."

"Well, I think Sweetpaw definitely deserves to be a warrior," Wildwater meowed. "She may be a bit young, but she had learned all the necessary skills a warrior needs to know."

 _Do they really deserve to be warriors?_ I thought. I could understand why Sweetpaw was, because she was brave in going with me to ShadowClan. But Harepaw? He hadn't really done anything.

"And Swanpaw," she added, turning to the white she-cat, "what exactly did Darkstar tell you?"

Swanpaw shrugged. "Nothing much," she said. "He just took me into ShadowClan and threw me into some den with guards all around me. I was there with Lionpaw and Squirrelpaw, and we all just kept each other company. That's pretty much all that happened."

"Did they threaten you or anything?"

"No," Swanpaw answered. "They just kept me in there without anything to do. Great StarClan, it was _boring_." She yawned.

"If nothing else needs to be said, we can start the warrior ceremonies now." Sassafrasstar headed outside and called, "Join around the Lakeledge for a meeting!"

We all climbed down the Lakeledge. The cats of RiverClan were gathering around the ledge, waiting for Sassafrasstar to begin.

"I have decided that Harepaw and Sweetpaw are worthy to become warriors," Sassafrasstar said. "They showed great courage and talent today against ShadowClan. Swanpaw and Flamepaw also were brave today, but they are still too young to become warriors."

There was some muttering; there really had been no battle and they were obviously wondering why Harepaw deserved to be promoted. Nevertheless, the warriors chanted our names. "Swanpaw! Flamepaw!"

"Also," Sassafrasstar added, "yesterday, Greenpaw and Heronpaw passed their final warrior tests, and it is their turn to become warriors as well. Snakescale, Brightleaf, Rushingwater, and Frostheart, do you believe that your apprentices are ready to become warriors?"

"Yes," Snakescale, Brightleaf, and Rushingwater said together.

"And Frostheart?" Sassafrasstar looked down at the white she-cat.

I frowned. What if Frostheart said no? I don't think that any mentor has actually done that before, but I knew for a fact that Frostheart didn't like Harepaw. But then she lifted her head and looked straight at Sassafrasstar. "Yes," she said finally.

"Okay then." Sassafrasstar nodded. "Will the four of you please come to the front of the Lakeledge?"

Greenpaw, Heronpaw, Harepaw, and Sweetpaw stood together at the front. Sassafrasstar began the ritual.

"I call on my warrior ancestors to look down upon these four apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as warriors in their turn. Greenpaw, Heronpaw, Harepaw, and Sweetpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and defend the Clan, even at the cost of your lives?"

"We do," the four said in unison.

"Then by the powers of StarClan I grant you your warrior names. Greenpaw, can you come up here first?"

Greenpaw bounded up the Lakeledge.

Sassafrasstar named him Greennose, and honored him for strength and bravery. Next, she called Heronpaw up. Heronpaw received the name Heronclaw, and was honored for cunning and strength.

"Harepaw, can you come up here?"

Harepaw nervously walked up the Lakeledge, checking to see where he put his paws.

"Harepaw, from this moment on you shall be known as Hareflight. StarClan honors your patience and insight, and we welcome you as a full member of RiverClan." She placed her claw on Hareflight's shoulder.

"And, last but not least, Sweetpaw," Sassafrasstar called, but Sweetpaw was already halfway up the Lakeledge. She ran up to Sassafrasstar, waiting for her name.

"Sweetpaw, from this moment on, you shall be known as Sweetsong. StarClan honors your cheerfulness and spirit, and we welcome you as a full member of RiverClan. Serve your Clan well."

"Greennose! Heronclaw! Hareflight! Sweetsong!" The Clan cheered as the four ran into the crowd to meet their mentors.

"I have another announcement to make," Sassafrasstar said. "We are going to form an alliance with ThunderClan. If ShadowClan attacks us or catnaps anyone again, they'll have _two_ Clans treading on their tails instead of one.

"Does this mean they'll be moving into our camp?" Wildwater called out.

"No," Sassafrasstar answered. "They'll only help us if we are attacked by ShadowClan. But for now, we are on our own."

I didn't really like the idea of an alliance with ThunderClan. What was the good of joining forces with a Clan on the other side of the lake? On the other paw, I could see they would be useful if ShadowClan came bawling into our camp, or if we could combine together to fight ShadowClan.

"You four will sit vigil," Sassafrasstar added, looking down at the new warriors. "You must stay awake the entire night. At sunrise, your previous mentors will call you to the warriors' den."

The four warriors nodded and went towards the camp entrance, which they would guard the entire night.

With no more announcements to be made, I walked towards the apprentices' den, yawning loudly. I was extremely tired after everything that had happened and fell asleep as soon as my head touched the moss.

* * *

 _The next morning_

Waterpaw's POV

I woke up at climbing-sun. It was a bit late to wake up, but I figured Sassafrasstar must have let us sleep in, after everything that happened yesterday.

As I left the apprentices' den, I heard Heronclaw's ever-so-annoying voice. "Oh, Waaaaterpawwwww"…

I growled. I was about to snarl, "What do you want?" back at him, but then I remembered the blackmail. Faking a smile, I trotted over to him. "What is it?"

"You know how I always tell you to get me prey because of the blackmail?" Heronclaw said. "Well, today we're going to do something different. You can come with me and Greennose to WindClan territory to go hunting."

I stared at him. "What?"

"We need someone to help us search for prey," Heronclaw continued on, "and you, well, just happen to be good, er, bait, in case any WindClan cats come by. If we get caught, you take the rap, if we don't, we all get to share what we catch."

"I'm not doing that," I retorted. "What, you want me to start a war with WindClan? Forget it."

Heronclaw's eyes twinkled. "Sure, you don't have to come. But before Greennose and I go, I'll have a quick chat with Sassafrasstar"…

My eyes widened. There was no way I wanted to go, but I couldn't let Turtlepaw's and my secret come out either. If we went quickly to WindClan, we might not get caught. "Fine, I'm game," I said through gritted teeth.

"No he's not," I suddenly heard a voice. Swanpaw was behind me, glaring at us. "You'd better not break the warrior code," she said.

"It's none of your business, Swanpaw," Heronclaw growled.

"If you're breaking the warrior code, then yes, it's my business," Swanpaw answered curtly. "You're not going to force Waterpaw into it. And if you go, I'll tell Sassafrasstar."

Heronclaw glared at Swanpaw, pure rage in his eyes. Swanpaw glared back. Finally, Heronclaw huffed. "We won't go," he muttered. "But I'd watch it if I were you," he said to Swanpaw, turning around and storming off.

Swanpaw motioned for me to follow her. Feeling relieved that she had saved me from Heronclaw, I followed her. "Hey, thanks so much. They've never asked me to do anything like that before, but I have a feeling it's just going to get worse and worse."

Swanpaw frowned. "You need to stop letting Greennose and Heronclaw bully you," she said. "Why can't you tell them to just stop?"

"Well, it's… complicated," I hesitated. "What's going on?"

"I needed to talk to you," she said. "And it's about Turtlepaw."

I felt my whiskers grow cold. "Turtlepaw?" I asked, forcing my voice to remain even. "What about Turtlepaw? She saved Sweetsong from Darkstar, didn't she?"

"I know you're friends with Turtlepaw," Swanpaw snapped. "Give it up already."

"You're not going to drive her away from me," I snarled back. "Turtlepaw and I are friends. Besides, she's in RiverClan now, which means we're allowed to be together."

" _I'm_ not going to take her away from you," she replied. "Sassafrasstar will. She specifically told Turtlepaw to leave RiverClan after we sort things out with ShadowClan."

"Well, we'll"… I frowned. I hadn't exactly figured out that part. How was I going to keep Turtlepaw in RiverClan?

"I'm curious, how did you meet up with her in the first place?" Swanpaw asked.

I thought for a moment. Since she already knew my secret, I would probably have to tell her. I told Swanpaw about Heronclaw's dare, my first Gathering, and everything that happened after that.

Swanpaw danced around. "This is perfect," she said, much to my surprise. "Since you don't want to be Heronclaw's slave anymore, you should just stop seeing Turtlepaw. Then if he goes and tells on you to Sassafrasstar, you can deny the whole thing!"

"No! Swanpaw, I can't do that," I protested. "She's my best friend!"

"What exactly do you see in her?"

"She saved Sweetsong from Darkstar," I protested. "Weren't you there when it happened? And she gave up her ShadowClan life just to be here."

"I still think there's something weird about her," insisted Swanpaw. "Besides, you'd better stop this now, before you start to develop feelings for her."

"I'm not!" I snarled, outraged. "We're just friends. You're allowed to have friends from different Clans, as long as you put your Clan first. That's what I'm doing." I frowned for a second. Was it right to say Turtlepaw and me were only friends? I liked her a lot more than any of my friends here in RiverClan.

"I don't believe that for a second," Swanpaw said snootily. "Besides, you shouldn't have anything to do with a ShadowClan cat. Especially not a kit of Flowerstar!"

"When will you give that up? She was barely four moons old when Flowerstar's conquest of the Clans ended. And she's been through a tough time. She's been bullied by her Clanmates. Her own Clanmates! She misses Featherheart, too, but she doesn't hate RiverClan like the rest of them."

"I see the little furball has gotten you to feel sorry for her," Swanpaw snorted. "I'm going to get some food. See you after you regain your sanity."

"You take that back!" I screamed after her, but Swanpaw had already disappeared. Growling, I turned around and fled into the apprentices' den.

Why did this have to be so difficult?

* * *

Swanpaw's POV

Why did I even bother? All I'd done was try to help Waterpaw, and he'd blown me off. I knew he did it before, with the whole Heronpaw thing. I should have learned from that.

Even though Turtlepaw saved Sweetsong back at ShadowClan, I still don't trust her. There's no way anyone can trust a kit of Flowerstar. Especially not one who switched Clans! _How is switching Clans ever acceptable?_

Walking toward the edge of camp, near the reeds, I stretched out and yawned. Some day it had been. I was ready to go to sleep.

As I was sitting, I suddenly heard Frostheart's sneering voice behind me. "So you managed to become a warrior, huh? Last time I checked, mentors were supposed to have authority over when their apprentices became warriors. I guess I was wrong."

I turned around to see her scolding Hareflight, and my blood began to boil with rage. That fox-heart. Even after he had become a warrior, she was still trying to belittle him?

Hareflight's chin trembled, but he impaled Frostheart with an icy stare. "The ceremony has been performed. I'm a warrior. If you can't deal with that, I don't know what to tell you."

I was impressed by Hareflight's sudden confidence in himself, but I still felt angry. Why was Frostheart so cruel? I marched out from where I was sitting and glared at Frostheart. She glared back, then stormed off.

"Hey," said Hareflight, looking relieved when she had gone, "don't worry about it. I really don't care, because she's no longer my mentor. She can't hurt me anymore."

"That's good," I said. I suddenly felt a strange, light, bubbly feeling in my stomach. What was it?

"What's the matter?" he asked, looking concerned.

"Oh, nothing," I told him. "My stomach just feels funny, that's all."

"Maybe you should go see Bluemist about it."

I shook my head. "It's not that bad," I said. "Look, I'll see you tomorrow, okay? You should go to sleep now; you must be tired after your vigil." And then I headed towards the apprentices' den.

* * *

 **After this chapter, the drama picks up much more. We get longer chapters, multiple POVs, and so much stuff happening. Things are about to get interesting…**

 **AOTD: ****Well, obviously they're not going to accept her, as we saw from Swanpaw's reaction. But, well, we'll see what happens.**

 **QOTD: ****What time in the morning does school start for you?**


	24. Chapter 22: The Fight

**The annoying thing about FFN is that they're not letting me view the new reviews via the review page. The number says 88 reviews but when I click on it, it only shows 86. So since I have to reply to the reviews by opening my email, sorry if the responses are out of date or something. And this doesn't happen in GSC, so I don't know why it's a problem here.**

 **Previously on TRotR:**

 ** _Swanpaw's POV_**

 ** _"_** ** _So, what did you catch?" Heronpaw asked Harepaw._**

 ** _Harepaw bowed his head. "Nothing," he muttered._**

 ** _Heronpaw started to laugh. "Sassafrasstar is going to rename you Dumbpaw."_**

 ** _"_** ** _You're warrior name is going to be Dumbfish!" Greenpaw added._**

 ** _"_** ** _Dumbfish! Dumbfish!" the two toms yelled._**

 ** _"_** ** _Stop!" pleaded Harepaw. I felt a little sorry for Harepaw, but I had to agree with Heronpaw and Greenpaw. Harepaw really needed to get his act together._**

 ** _"_** ** _Fishies don't cry, you pathetic little swimmer!" Greenpaw crowed. "Maybe if we put him in the water, he'll behave."_**

 ** _"_** ** _Let's do it," Heronpaw agreed, motioning towards him. The two toms stepped towards Harepaw._**

 ** _And that was when I lost it._**

 ** _"_** ** _Leave him alone!" I yelled._**

 ** _The two of them turned to stare at me. "Oh, hi Swanpaw," said Greenpaw, as if he had just noticed me._**

 ** _"_** ** _I said, leave him alone!" I repeated. "If you're going to insult someone, at least think of something original. You two ganging up against him is not funny."_**

 ** _Greenpaw came closer to me. "You're very cute when you frown," he said. He put his tail on my shoulders and placed his paw next to mine._**

 ** _In one fluid motion, I lifted my tail up and slapped him hard in the face._**

 **Later…**

 ** _"W_** ** _hy are you wasting your time with Harepaw?" Greenpaw asked. "Can't you see I'm so much more awesome?"_**

 ** _"_** ** _He's very annoying," I snapped, "but if you keep this behavior up, I'm going to say yes."_**

 ** _"_** ** _But look at your choices," Greenpaw said. "You can choose wimpy Harepaw, who can't even catch a trout. And then you have handsome, gorgeous me – "_**

 ** _"_** ** _I'm not choosing either of you," I replied. "So stop it. Just leave me alone."_**

 ** _The two toms finally left, but I was still sitting in the snow. Was it right to say I found Harepaw annoying? I mean, he didn't seem so bad anymore._**

 ** _I sighed. Why couldn't Greenpaw and Heronpaw just leave us alone?_**

 **Just a recap in case you needed it. Anyways, now for review replies…**

 **Okatu Fernsneeze:** **I'm not a big fan of yellow-green. I like both colors, just not together. I don't know why. Your school starts at 9:00? You're lucky, my school starts so early in the morning. I hate having to get up, especially in the winter! Sorry this review reply was short.**

* * *

CHAPTER 22: THE FIGHT

 _That night_

Whitepaw's POV

In my dream, I found myself in a starry meadow in the sky. Where was I?

It was dark here, but still beautiful. I could see purple flowers dotting the grass. Then I saw strange golden bugs flying around. They were weird. One moment they flashed golden, the next moment they disappeared.

"Those are fireflies, young one."

I turned around to see a black she-cat with green eyes. She had green starlight on her fur.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"My name is Hollyleaf," she said. "I am one of ThunderClan's ancestors."

"Why is a ThunderClan ancestor coming to visit me?"

Hollyleaf frowned. "You should not have that attitude towards other Clans," she said sternly. "I would have expected nothing better from a warrior apprentice, but you're a medicine cat apprentice. You may have been born in RiverClan, but you must serve all Clans."

"Right. Sorry," I muttered, embarrassed.

Before Hollyleaf could say anything more, three more cats came from behind her. One was a gray tabby, the other was pale gray, and the third was golden. "We are the Three," the gray tabby said.

I squinted in confusion. "The three?"

"I see they don't teach much Clan history in RiverClan," the golden tom laughed. "My name is Lionblaze, and this is my brother Jayfeather and cousin Dovewing. I am Crowstar's great-great-great-great-great-father."

"That's cool," I murmured.

"The three of us were given magical powers at birth," Dovewing said. "Lionblaze was invincible, Jayfeather could read other cat's minds, and I had extraordinary hearing powers."

"Read other cat's minds? Isn't that a privacy invasion?"

Jayfeather huffed in embarrassment, looking down. Hollyleaf laughed. "It was," she said. "But try telling that to him! As an apprentice, he would read anyone and everyone's minds, just to get to know stuff he wasn't supposed to know. I think that's how he got all the Clan gossip"…

"Enough, Hollyleaf," said Jayfeather, looking harassed. "Anyways, to continue the story, the Dark Forest cats came to life and invaded the Clan's territory. We basically helped defeat them with our powers, in what was known as the Great Battle. However, even though we defeated the Dark Forest, they are still very much a threat."

"What do you mean?"

"Your mother Sassafrasstar didn't tell you her story?" Lionblaze asked. "She was involved in the last Dark Forest rebellion. Dark Forest cats still like to rebel, but nowadays they only rebel in small groups. Still, they're very much a threat."

Hollyleaf told me the story of Leopardheart, Wildwater, Bluemist, Silvermoon, Goldensun, and Sassafrasstar, and their adventure with several Dark Forest cats. I listened in horror. I already knew about the Flowerstar stuff, but I never was told about any of the Dark Forest happenings! It sounded horrible.

"No one knows about this except these six, and Flamepaw," said Hollyleaf. "He said a StarClan cat visited him, but we do not know which StarClan cat went to tell him."

"We know the Dark Forest is still out there," said Jayfeather. "I may not have my powers anymore, but I have this feeling something will happen. I do not know how many cats will be involved, but once it happens, nothing will ever be the same again. That we all agree on. The Clans must stay strong to combat what will happen next."

"Which leads us to our next point," Dovewing continued. "You know the Clans are fighting because of the murder of a ShadowClan cat. On top of that, you have tension from the Legion. Add that to the Dark Forest troubles, and you have a whole avalanche of problems."

"What's an avalanche?"

Dovewing rolled her eyes. "Never mind. Anyways, the point is that you need to be stronger. They say strength in numbers is good. So in order to win this war, the Clans must join forces."

I frowned. "What?"

"Oh, this is great," Jayfeather said dryly. "You know how long it took for us to get the Clans to agree to unite? How can Whitepaw do it himself?"

"Under the circumstances, I think they will agree," Lionblaze said. "Crowstar, in fact, has already agreed to an alliance with RiverClan. You just need to convince the other two Clans."

" _Thunder will turn the world into chaos. One who was once a friend will resort to darkness. The sky will fall, and the one who is lost and found at the same time will lead the way. The world you once knew will be changed drastically, never to be the same again_."

I frowned, not understanding a word of what she said. Chaos? Lost and found? What was she talking about?

"Now listen," Hollyleaf said, "I want you to keep all the information about the Dark Forest, the prophecy, and the Great Battle confidential. Don't tell any cat, not even Bluemist."

"Why not?" I asked, staring.

"Because the Clans don't need to worry about that right now," Jayfeather said, shortly. "They only need to know about the Legion alliance. That's what you need to be focusing on right now."

"But why are you giving me all this information if I can't tell anyone?" I protested. "What use is it to me then?"

The dream blurred, but just as it faded away completely, I heard Lionblaze say, "You will tell when the time is right."

* * *

"So you see, we need to unite with the other Clans"… My voice trailed off as Bluemist shook his head. "It's not possible, Whitepaw."

I frowned. My attempts to convince Bluemist to unite with the other Clans were failing. "Why not?" I protested. "If we don't unite, the Legion will take over the lake and force us to leave! Besides, Sassafrasstar said she was willing to unite with the other Clans to fight Luke. She said it to Luke's face, at the Gathering!"

"Well," Bluemist said, "We're already allied with Crowstar, so that shouldn't be a problem. Allying with Whitestar won't be much of a problem either; he's a sensible cat. But even with three Clans united, we're no match for the Legion. We need ShadowClan's help, which right now is not possible."

"Darkstar's may be crazy, but he's not stupid," I protested. "He's willing to protect his Clan."

"Yes, but he won't be willing to join forces with RiverClan – or ThunderClan, for that matter," answered Bluemist, patiently. "Look, Whitepaw, medicine cats have to be loyal to their Clans too. They can care for cats in other Clans, but they must always have their Clan's interests at heart."

"Well, I do have RiverClan's interest at heart," I shot back. "It's in my interest to save all the Clans. If you really cared about RiverClan, you'd want to unite the Clans."

Bluemist's eyes narrowed. "Don't talk to me like that, Whitepaw. I'm still your mentor."

"I'm only seeing the situation as it is. RiverClan's best interest is to get rid of the Legion. Same for the other Clans. If we all united, we would be able to fight the Legion and save our Clans. Problem solved."

Bluemist was about to respond when Spottedsky stuck her head in. "What are you two arguing about?" she asked.

"Nothing," answered Bluemist quickly. "What do you need?"

"Have you seen Swanpaw?" she asked.

"Oh, she went out on a hunting patrol this morning," he answered. "She'll be back by climbing-sun."

"Okay, that's all. Thanks." Spottedsky left the den.

"Whitepaw, we're running low on yarrow, so you can go over to WindClan and ask for some," Bluemist said curtly. "When you come back, we can talk more about this and your attitude problems."

"You're the one with the attitude," I muttered resentfully, walking away.

* * *

Swanpaw's POV

That morning, I walked back to camp, carrying a huge pike in my jaws. This was the first time I had caught something so big! Spottedsky was very impressed when she saw it.

"That will feed all of the kits and queens!" she exclaimed. "Good job, Swanpaw. Goldensun would be proud of you."

I frowned when she said that. Whitepaw said Goldensun was in a high-security prison with no hope of escaping. Sassafrasstar didn't know what to do. Obviously, she wanted to rescue Goldensun, but the stakes were too high with ThunderClan as our only allies.

"Go and give this to the kits," Spottedsky said. "They're old enough to eat prey now."

I dashed off to the nursery. "Mistkit! Ravenkit!" I called. Mistkit poked her head out of the nursery.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Look at what I got!" I yowled, placing the pike down at her paws. Mistkit gasped.

"A pike!" she squealed. "Mama, come and look!"

Dappledflower eagerly came out of the nursery. "Did someone say 'pike'?" she asked. Then she stared down at the pike I had brought back. "Wow Swanpaw, that is some great hunting!" she exclaimed.

"Thanks," I said shyly, looking down at my fur in embarrassment.

Briarthorn and her son, Ravenkit, also came out. They also stared eagerly at the fish I had just brought.

"Would you like to stay, Swanpaw?" asked Briarthorn.

"I think I'd better go," I replied, a little awkwardly. I'd never been good around kits, so I would rather not stay. "See you around."

I turned around and walked towards the fresh-kill pile. I picked out a water vole and sat on the side to eat.

"Swanpaw, could you come for a moment?" someone suddenly asked. I looked up to see my mentor, Spottedsky. "What is it?" I asked.

"I'll tell you in the elders' den," she replied. "There's no one there now. Let's go."

 _What is it that's so secret?_ I wondered, following her towards the elders' den.

Once I was finished eating, Spottedsky spoke to me. "What do you think is more important; loyalty to your Clan, or loyalty to your friends?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" I asked. "Did I do anything wrong?"

Spottedsky laughed. "No," she said. "Let's imagine this scenario. Your friend is breaking the warrior code, doing something he shouldn't be doing. You want to protect your friend, but you're also loyal to your Clan. Would you tell on him, or keep it a secret?"

"I'd tell," I answered without hesitation. "Breaking the code is wrong. And telling might help him, because he would fix the mistake immediately."

"Does that mean you tell me about Waterpaw and Turtlepaw's relationship?"

I stopped and stared up at Spottedsky. "How do you know?"

"I overheard your conversation with Waterpaw," she answered.

"You were _eavesdropping_?"

"No, it wasn't like that," Spottedsky said quickly. "I was taking some moss to the elders, because all the apprentices were eating and none of the other warriors were willing to do it. When I came out, you and Waterpaw were standing outside this den, arguing. You didn't see me, but I was there."

"Well"… I said, and stopped. I couldn't think of anything to say.

"Tell me what happened," Spottedsky said. "Please tell me. I'm your mentor."

I told her the whole thing. About Heronclaw's blackmail, Waterpaw's outing with Turtlepaw, and the reasons why I didn't like Turtlepaw. I also added in a bit about how Greennose behaved towards Hareflight and me.

"I'm going to tell Sassafrasstar everything you said to me, at sunhigh," said Spottedsky. "Greennose and Heronclaw have not been behaving well, and this needs to be stopped."

"What about Waterpaw?" I asked. "What will happen to him?"

"I don't think he'll be in as much trouble," Spottedsky answered. "From what you've said, this sounds like Heronclaw's fault, not his."

She left the den, but I stayed there, unmoving. What if Waterpaw got into trouble, and it was all my fault?

I couldn't shake the thought away.

* * *

 _At sundown_

Hareflight's POV

I had just come back from a border patrol, and I was tired. I was ready to grab something from the fresh-kill pile and crash in my nest.

Swanpaw had picked out a mackerel from the pile. "Hey, want to share?" she asked me. "Sure," I replied eagerly, sitting down next to her.

Nearby, Heronclaw snickered. "How sweet, a couple," he laughed.

I thought Swanpaw was going to snap at him, but she just stared at him with dull, glazed-over eyes.

"Spottedsky must not have told Sassafrasstar about him at sunhigh," she murmured. "It's sundown and still nothing has happened."

"What are you talking about?" I asked Swanpaw. She didn't answer.

Strangely enough, Swanpaw seemed rather quiet today. She barely spoke to me that evening.

After we finished eating, I went over to the warriors' den and lay down in my nest, closing my eyes.

Greennose's nest was two nests away from mine. He looked up at me and sneered, "Oh, hi Dumbfish. Hope you had a great day."

I ignored him and put my head down in my moss. I was used to taunts like this by now; the 'Dumbfish' thing was really getting old.

I had hoped once we became warriors, Greennose would leave me alone. Sadly, this wasn't the case. Although it wasn't as easy as before, since we didn't see each other that much, he still found some time in the day to annoy me.

A moment later, Heronclaw came in. "Hey, Greennose, I have to tell you something," he said. I resolved not to let them bother me. No matter what they said, I would not listen. I would not care.

That is, until two seconds later, when Heronclaw mentioned my name.

"Hareflight was sitting with Swanpaw at the fresh-kill pile," Heronclaw whispered. He meant it to be a whisper, but the sound of his voice filled the entire den. "They were sharing a meal."

I bolted upwards. Now Greennose would _really_ have it out for me. I was ready to run out.

"Not so fast, Dumbfish," Heronclaw sneered. His eyes sparkled, as if he were enjoying the whole thing. "Greennose has a few words to share with you."

Greennose got up from his nest, glaring at me with pure hate. "What in the name of StarClan is _wrong_ with you?" he whispered, anger in each word.

"Leave me alone!" I defended myself. "I wasn't even doing anything! All we did was" –

Greennose flew straight at me and clawed my muzzle. A few droplets of blood dripped down onto my eyes, obscuring my vision.

"Keep your paws off of her," Greennose snarled. "She's mine."

I stared at Greennose with a mixture of disgust and fear. "She's not yours," I said. "She doesn't belong to anyone. Stop treating she-cats like objects."

"You know I wanted her!" Greennose howled. "She was supposed to end up as my mate, not yours! And now you've ruined all of it!"

"We're not mates!" I wailed. "She's not even a warrior yet. How can we be mates?"

Then Greennose said something which completely broke the ice. Whatever confidence I had left shattered.

"Swanpaw doesn't even like you," Greennose hissed. "She thinks you're a STUPID, WEAK, pathetic WORM. She would never love you."

"No one could ever love you," Heronclaw added. "You're a useless, worthless, good-for-nothing cat. Everyone thinks so. You didn't even deserve to become a warrior. You never passed the warrior test; you just got promoted because we 'need more warriors'."

Their words made me stumble back. Everything they said was true. How could Swanpaw ever like me? I wasn't good at hunting or fighting. I was awkward, clumsy, and illiterate at times. And I most certainly didn't deserve to be a warrior. How many times had Frostheart told me this?

"Hey," said Waterpaw, coming in, "Can you stop fighting? 'Cause I could hear it all the way from the apprentices' den" –

In response, Heronclaw ran up to him and pinned him down. "Stay out of this, _apprentice_. It's none of your business."

"I guess we should teach him a lesson," Greennose said, heading over to Waterpaw.

"No!" I gasped. "Leave Waterpaw alone! He hasn't done anything."

Waterpaw unsheathed his claws. He lifted them upwards and slashed them on Heronclaw's face. I launched myself at Greennose and knocked him over. He struck again at my face, but this time I fought back, clawing at his belly.

Greennose howled in pain and kicked me hard in the leg. I stumbled over, and Greennose took advantage of that to whip me in the side with his tail.

Suddenly, I felt someone grabbing me and pulling me to the side. Lightsky glared down at me, his face contorted with rage. "I cannot believe you actually call yourselves warriors!" he yelled. Behind me, Snakescale was pulling Heronclaw and Waterpaw apart.

"You four, meet me in the elders' den, NOW," Sassafrasstar snarled, sticking her head into the warriors' den. "On second thought, go to the medicine den first. You can meet me immediately after that."

She stormed out of the den with Lightsky and Snakescale. Nervously, I looked over at Waterpaw, whose ear was torn. "We're screwed," he mouthed at me.

I had a feeling he was right.

* * *

 **Oh, and before I forget, I'm not updating GSC every week anymore. It'll only be updated once every two weeks from this point on. This is because most of the time I'm not able to get chapters out quickly enough to post them. The update date will still be on Sundays though.**

 **Yeah, Waterpaw and Hareflight are in big trouble! Next chapter:**

 **\- You see exactly what happens to them, Heronclaw, and Greennose.**

 **\- Sassafrasstar finds out about Waterpaw and Turtlepaw's relationship.**

 **AOTD: ****LOL, my school starts at 7:20 in the morning. Not even enough time to eat breakfast. I bring breakfast to school, so I can eat during homeroom (which is between 1** **st** **and 2** **nd** **period).**

 **QOTD:** **What do you think about Whitepaw's prophecy and Bluemist's reaction?**


	25. Chapter 23: In the Elders' Den

**Hey guys, what's up? *yawns* I'm so tired today. I got up at eight, and then went right back to sleep and didn't wake up until nine. I'm just going to crash at nine.**

 **Snowfall16: ****Yeah I agree, Bluemist should have given Whitepaw more credit. But after all, this wasn't told in Bluemist's POV. Also, Whitepaw didn't tell Bluemist the prophecy. He was only supposed to tell Bluemist about the alliance, not any of the StarClan/Dark Forest stuff. You were also saying something about docs disappearing after seven days. That's weird, I still have all the docs you sent me. None of them disappeared from my inbox, ever. What is this about docs disappearing?**

 **Otaku Fernsneeze:** **That is pretty funny. Green sun and yellow grass? I'd seriously love to see that. Oh yeah, those people are SO annoying. I hate those people who just see two people of the opposite gender walking somewhere together, and they automatically assume that they're dating. Am I the only one who sees a problem with that logic? God, I remember how awful that used to be in middle school. Just out of curiosity, why do you want to stab Heronclaw 97 times? Why not 100? 97 seems like an odd number.**

* * *

CHAPTER 23: IN THE ELDERS' DEN

Waterpaw's POV

It was quite clear, when we entered Bluemist's den, that Sassafrasstar had already gone to see him. He merely scowled at us, and did not speak to us at all while tending to our wounds. Obviously he was as disgusted by our behavior as Sassafrasstar.

"Wouldn't she want to see us in her den?" Hareflight asked me. "Why does she want us in the elders' den?"

"I don't know," I said, dread rising up in my throat as I thought of our meeting with Sassafrasstar. We were in big trouble.

"She's going to be so mad," Hareflight groaned. "Silvermoon will be so disappointed in me and… why did I have to get into trouble?"

I did my best to reassure Hareflight. "Don't worry," I said confidently. "Yes, she'll be mad, but she'll forget about it soon. Besides, how bad can it be?"

* * *

That night, I learned to _never_ ask that question again.

First of all, I entered the elders' den, expecting it to be empty save for Sassafrasstar. Wrong. Our parents were there: Silvermoon; Brightleaf and Volewhisker, Heronclaw's parents; and Mossfoot, Greennose's father. In addition to them, Spottedsky, Swanpaw, and Turtlepaw were also there. I had no clue why Sassafrasstar invited them.

"Welcome, Waterpaw and Hareflight," Sassafrasstar said in an icy tone. "Care to join us? We will start now."

"If I may speak," Hareflight began, but Sassafrasstar cut him off with a slash of her tail. "No, you may not speak. You have no right to speak. In fact, none of you may speak until I am finished."

Hareflight shrunk down and didn't open his mouth after that. Silvermoon cast him a furious look.

To the right of us, Greennose and Heronclaw were standing together, casting each other nervous looks and hopelessly failing at appearing defiant. _Serves them right_ , I thought angrily. _First they blackmail me, then gang up on Hareflight, and then they attack me! I hope they get into a lot of trouble._

"First of all," Sassafrasstar began, "Hareflight, Greennose, and Heronclaw will clean the warriors' den. You will replace the blood-stained nests and lick the floor clean. I want it to be spotless by morning. Tonight, the other warriors will split accommodations in the elders' den, the apprentices' den, and the field."

 _Lick the floor clean? Ugh!_ I thought, casting Hareflight a sympathetic look.

"Waterpaw, you will not be punished for the fight," Sassafrasstar added. "You were only defending yourself."

"Typical," Heronclaw muttered. "She's showing favoritism to her son."

Sassafrasstar whirled around, her face contorted with anger. "Did I ask you to speak?" she snarled. "That leads me to my second point. I am sick of your attitude, Greennose and Heronclaw. For a while, I've been turning a blind eye to it because I thought you would grow out of it. But there is something very serious we need to address here."

Sassafrasstar's eyes started to blaze with blue fire. She was looking much angrier than ever before. _Uh oh…_

"I deal with a lot of things," Sassafrasstar roared. "I'm used to apprentices who back-talk their mentors, complain about the elders, and sneak out at night. That's completely normal and all part of growing up. But one thing I will NOT put up with is bullying."

"But we're not bullies," Greennose said, looking as scared as a kit. "We didn't"…

Sassafrasstar snorted. "If ganging up against someone and ripping them to shreds isn't bullying, then I don't know what is. What you did to Hareflight and Waterpaw is _inexcusable_. Don't think I don't know what happened! You both ganged up against Hareflight because you thought he had a crush on Swanpaw. And while we're on the subject, let me move on to my next point. You four need to stop worrying about she-cats and start focusing on serving the Clan to your best potential. You're all young, and there will be plenty of time to think about a mate in the future, when you're mature enough to handle it."

"I can't believe my son would play a stunt like this" – Mossfoot began angrily, but Sassafrasstar silenced him with a flick of her tail.

"Greennose and Heronclaw, you are confined to camp for two moons. You may not even _think_ about leaving camp. I don't want to do this when we're in such a dangerous situation with ShadowClan and the Legion, but you left me with no choice."

"TWO MOONS?" Heronclaw screeched.

"You can't do that!" Greennose wailed.

"I most certainly can," Sassafrasstar said coolly. "I would not be so harsh if it weren't for so many things you've done wrong. Your attitude, your defiance, your clear disregard for basic common-sense rules, and the way you use your strength to domineer over the apprentices. You may think it's funny and 'cool', but it isn't. It's a sign of two cats that could have become respected warriors, but won't be trusted because of their behavior."

Greennose's eyes were misting up, as if he were about to cry. Heronclaw's whiskers were twitching furiously. Mossfoot was staring at his son with disappointment and anger. Heronclaw's mother looked angry, but his father just seemed… sad.

"Before I continue with my next points, I need some cats to leave," Sassafrasstar said, after a pause. "I'm going to ask everyone except Spottedsky, Heronclaw, Swanpaw, Waterpaw, and Turtlepaw to leave. Badgerfoot has figured out the sleeping accommodations, so go see him now."

I frowned. Why was she asking so many cats to leave? And why was Heronclaw looking so scared? Then it hit me.

 _Oh no_ , I thought frantically. I had a suspicion about what was going to happen, and it wasn't good.

I looked around the den. Spottedsky had a sad look in her eyes, Heronclaw looked terrified, and Turtlepaw seemed… unsettled. Then I saw Swanpaw, who was staring at the ground. In that moment, my suspicions were confirmed.

 _She told on me_ , I thought furiously. _That stupid, nasty, good-for-nothing_ snitch _…_

"There seems to be a certain blackmailing incident we need to address," Sassafrasstar continued on. Her voice had changed. When she was talking about the fight, her voice was angry and scorching. Now she spoke coldly, and her eyes shone an icy blue. "Heronclaw, I think you should explain."

Heronclaw looked up at her with frightened eyes, unable to speak a word.

"Not keen, are you?" Sassafrasstar taunted. "Spottedsky can explain, then." She motioned for the tortoiseshell she-cat to begin speaking.

"Well," Spottedsky began, "yesterday evening, I overheard Swanpaw and Waterpaw arguing over something. When I confronted Swanpaw about it, this morning, I made her tell me."

So Swanpaw hadn't snitched on me after all. At least, she had only done so when she was forced to.

"On the night of Waterpaw's first Gathering, Heronclaw went up to him and told him to go out with a she-cat of another Clan, or else he would give him trouble. After Waterpaw went out, Heronclaw told Waterpaw that if he didn't become his slave, he would go and tell on him about breaking the warrior code. Many days since then, Greennose and Heronclaw have taken the opportunity to force him to get prey from the fresh-kill pile, and do other things he didn't want to do."

For a moment, everyone was silent. Then Sassafrasstar said, "All of you here know the she-cat Waterpaw was involved with." She looked straight at Turtlepaw.

All eyes went to the ShadowClan she-cat, who stared down at her paws.

"I don't think anything more needs to be said," Sassafrasstar said. "Except for the fact that Turtlepaw and Waterpaw have been continuously seeing each other, after the incident" –

"Hang on," Heronclaw suddenly interrupted, "I thought Waterpaw and Turtlepaw only saw each other once. I didn't think they were seeing each other afterwards"…

"You thought wrong," Sassafrasstar answered curtly.

"You didn't tell me," Heronclaw said, looking at me with wide eyes.

"Why should I tell you anything?" I snapped back.

"Anyways," said Sassafrasstar pointedly, "I think we've had enough debate. Heronclaw" – she motioned to the warrior – "Your punishment will be: out of one of the moons you are stuck in camp, your rank as warrior will be demoted. You will sleep in the apprentices' den and be assigned a mentor. I think Brindlefire will do an excellent job."

The look on his face was priceless.

This time, Heronclaw had absolutely no comment. He didn't even look at Sassafrasstar. He just stared down at the ground, refusing to acknowledge anyone.

"And Waterpaw," Sassafrasstar added, "you will be punished as well."

"Wait, why should I be punished?" I protested. "The only reason why I went out with Turtlepaw is because Heronclaw made me"…

"I know what happened. What Heronclaw did was inexcusable. What you did was inexcusable as well. After Heronclaw asked you to do something that was clearly against the warrior code, you should have gone to me, your mentor, or any other adult cat in the Clan. But you agreed to follow Heronclaw. You let him push you around. That makes you just as guilty as him.

"Therefore, I'm putting you on nursery duty for two moons. You can look after the kits, play with them, and tell them stories. You will also replace the nests with fresh bedding every three days."

Well, that didn't sound too bad. I knew nursery duty was a lot better than elder duty. The kits, although mischievous at times, were a lot nicer than the grumpy elders. At least I could play with them.

"And now I'm speaking to you as well, Turtlepaw," Sassafrasstar added. "You can help him with nursery duty. And neither of you can leave the camp without an escort, because I don't trust either of you for the time being."

 _She doesn't trust me_ , I thought, feeling dejected. I stared at Heronclaw, who had buried his face in his paws. Despite the fact that he had blackmailed me, I suddenly felt an unexpected twinge of sympathy for him. _Sassafrasstar's being really tough on him. He's a jerk, but he doesn't deserve all this. But maybe this will teach him to be nicer. Maybe he'll stop bullying all the apprentices…_ Well, he most definitely would stop that, because Sassafrasstar would be keeping an eye on him. But I certainly hoped he could become a nicer cat.

Turtlepaw was also staring at the ground, but unlike Heronclaw, she looked angry. She glared at Sassafrasstar, but she took no notice of the ShadowClan she-cat.

"I think that is about it," Sassafrasstar said, after a moment's silence. "Spottedsky, younger warriors have to sleep in the field, so you should go there. Apprentices, as usual, will sleep in the apprentices' den."

We were about to leave, but Sassafrasstar pulled me back. "Waterpaw, I need to speak to you for a second," she said.

"Um, yes?" I asked nervously.

"Do you remember when I told you not to interact with Turtlepaw?" Sassafrasstar asked. "Why didn't you listen to me? Why didn't you trust my judgment?"

I scratched the ground. "I did. I wasn't going to speak to her. But then I saw Turtlepaw being picked on by some other apprentices, and I couldn't take that. Then I found myself asking her out. I figured I could do Heronclaw's dare and get it done with, but then things got crazy after that. I ended up agreeing to see her more often. I"… I didn't need to go on.

"I see," Sassafrasstar said. "I hope you learned that every decision you make can always escalate into something further. Any move you make can get you into trouble."

"Yes," I murmured.

"You should go now," Sassafrasstar murmured. Her voice had become much gentler and softer than before. "Try not to think too much about your punishment. And don't be too harsh on Greennose and Heronclaw. They're going to have a tough time, but if we make things bearable for them, they may end up getting back on the right path."

"I will," I promised. I left the den, towards my nest. I was tired now, and there was no time to do anything but sleep – but the next day I resolved to talk to Turtlepaw.

* * *

 **I just had a question for all of you. Would you prefer it if I sent review replies by PM instead of responding to them at the beginning of each chapter? I'd actually prefer that. I'll still reply to guest reviews here, of course, but it just won't take up so much space in the beginning of the chapter.**

 **AOTD: ****The prophecy… well, I can't say much about that, since it'd spoil the whole thing. I don't think Bluemist should have reacted like that, of course. But I guess Whitepaw was being a bit rude too.**

 **QOTD: ****I haven't done this in a while, so… How many fruits can you name?**


	26. Chapter 24: Reborn

**Just to start off, I know I haven't been updating GSC regularly. Actually, that's sort of an understatement seeing as I haven't posted a new chapter in three weeks. Please, just bear with me. Updates will be sporadic from now on, with all the stuff going on right now. School, homework, clubs, everything… yeah, I think you get the picture.**

 **Also, sorry if the review replies aren't so great. They're not very long.**

 **Snowfall16: ****I think I'll start sending replies by PM starting next chapter. Wow, that is a lot of fruit. What was that… 21? I'll see if I can beat that. How is school going on, with all the APs? Are they very difficult?**

 **Okatu Fernsneeze:** **I laughed so hard when I read your review. It was hilarious. Oh, and you're wondering about Waterkit? She's arriving soon! Her first appearance is a few chapters from now, I think. She becomes more important to the storyline later on.**

* * *

CHAPTER 24: REBORN

Waterpaw's POV

Although there had only been a few cats in the den when Sassafrasstar punished me and Heronclaw, somehow, by the morning, everyone in the Clan knew about the friendship between me and Turtlepaw. Maybe someone was outside the den, listening, and the information got leaked. Whatever the case, I was met with disapproving eyes and pointed stares that entire morning.

I went to the nursery to start replacing the bedding. The queens and kits were outside, so I could work comfortably. I was quite relieved to be away from all the stares and glares of my Clanmates. Turtlepaw stood there, picking the old bedding up from the ground and throwing it to the sides.

"Hey, er, Waterpaw," she stammered.

"Hi," I frowned. "What's wrong?"

Turtlepaw put her bedding down. "Well, Waterpaw," she said awkwardly. "I, um, want to say something to you. It's something I've never told any cat before."

"What is it?" I asked. "You can just say it, Turtlepaw. I'm listening."

"Well," Turtlepaw forced out the words, "Waterpaw… I really like you." When she caught me staring, she continued, "Not just in a friendly way, you know, but in, well, _that_ way."

I stared at her for a moment, not knowing what to say.

 _I like her back too_ , I realized. That was great and all – but how were we going to keep this a secret? And how could we ever live together?

"Well?" prompted Turtlepaw.

"I, um," I began, even more awkwardly than her. "I like you too."

Suddenly, someone came in. "Waterpaw? Could you come here for a second?" said a voice. Flamepaw? _What's he doing here?_ I thought, alarmed. _Had he been listening in on our conversation? He'd better not have been…_

"Fine," I muttered, following him out of the nursery.

"Why are you still going after that she-cat?" Flamepaw asked.

"It's none of your business," I snarled.

Flamepaw blinked. "I'm just saying, the sooner you let go of something you're not supposed to have, the better. You should let go of Turtlepaw now."

I suddenly felt a wave of fury. "And what exactly do you know?" I demanded. "You're not some sort of genius! You don't even know how I feel!"

Flamepaw opened his eyes. "Excuse me, Waterpaw?" he snapped. "Of course I know how you feel! Do you know what I've had to give up?"

I stared at him. "What are you talking about?"

"Eaglekit, you dope!" Flamepaw snarled back. "Do you know how much I miss him? Do you think Turtlepaw ever matches that?"

I was about to think of a good response when Turtlepaw suddenly burst out of the nursery.

"Don't say that to Waterpaw!" she screamed at Flamepaw. The whole thing was starting to cause a scene, and cats were staring. "You jerk! I'll teach you to interfere in other cat's businesses! I'll" –

"What are we feuding about?" a voice suddenly interrupted. Sassafrasstar towered over us, giving the three of us pointed stares. "Is there a problem?"

"No," Turtlepaw and I said in unison.

Flamepaw flattened his ears. "Yeah, nothing," he muttered.

"Good," said Sassafrasstar calmly. She gave Flamepaw a glance, and Turtlepaw and me a firm, no-nonsense look. Then she strode away.

Flamepaw glared at us. "Bye," he muttered, slinking away.

I turned to Turtlepaw, grateful for her help, but to my surprise, her eyes were filled with tears. "I'm sorry," she whispered, suddenly looking extremely guilty. For what reason I didn't know. "I don't deserve someone… like… you"…

And to my confusion, she ran off, not speaking another word.

* * *

Flamepaw's POV

I stormed out of the nursery, feeling angrier and angrier by the second. All I'd been trying to do was help Waterpaw with Turtlepaw. And he didn't listen to me. What an idiot.

I still missed Eaglekit. I hadn't had much time to think about him, with all the Legion and ShadowClan stuff going on. But whenever I did get the chance… how much it hurt. My siblings don't even _care_ about him! They forgot about him as soon as they became apprentices. How could anyone forget their own _brother_?

On the bright side, Sassafrasstar and I have been talking a bit more. Still, it's not very much, because of all the stress she's been under. But at least she made an attempt now to show she cares.

"Flamepaw?" I heard someone ask. I turned around to see Sweetsong.

Ever since we went off to ShadowClan together, Sweetsong and I have become closer. We're sort of friends now. Not best friends – I can't ever be dependent on any cat. But Sweetsong's just someone to talk to at times.

"Hi," I muttered, kicking a pebble. It bounced all the way to the warriors' den.

"What's the matter?"

I sighed. "It's Waterpaw," I said. "I tried to talk him out of being with Turtlepaw, but he just snapped at me."

Sweetsong nodded sympathetically. "It might just be best to leave him alone for the time being," she said. "He'll get over it quickly when the Legion comes for an attack. Besides, I don't trust Turtlepaw either. "I think there's something weird about her too."

I stared at Sweetsong incredulously. "What? But she rescued you! How can you not trust her?"

"There was something off with that," Sweetsong answered. "Darkstar and Turtlepaw were saying everything as if they… knew what they were going to say. What if the whole thing was staged?"

I thought for a moment. "But it can't have been staged," I pointed out. "Smokepelt, Swampnose, and Rabbittail left ShadowClan. I don't think Darkstar would have sent three of his own warriors out to spy on ThunderClan and RiverClan."

"You're right," she answered, tail drooping. "Oh well, it was a guess all the same."

If Sweetsong was wrong, then Turtlepaw could probably be quite helpful to our Clan. But if she was right… we were headed for more trouble.

* * *

Featherheart's POV

We sat by the Nightmare Den, waiting for its roof to emit thunder and lightning; that was when we knew it would be ready. It was very close to being usable, so at any moment now, a terrific storm would arrive.

I thought back to my life in ShadowClan, and remembered how I betrayed my Clan to be a member of the Legion. At the time, I had felt guilty for doing such a thing. But I had honestly believed the Legion was the winning side. Luke agreed that he would spare my Clan if I became one of his spies, which was why I joined him. I only wanted ShadowClan to be saved.

I never did anything to hurt anyone. Since my actions were not right, but my intentions weren't disloyal, StarClan agreed to let me stay with them on a trial basis. Ever since what we call the Dark Forest Rebellion, the council agreed to relax the rules a bit on acceptance into StarClan. So I got lucky.

I don't remember how I died. Just before I got accepted into StarClan, they wiped the memories of my last few days alive. Everything seems like a fuzzy recollection to me. I just hope, that when we reach the Clans, I'd remember.

Suddenly, I saw a bright, jagged bolt of lightning explode from the Nightmare Den. Thunder boomed around, so deafening that I almost fell. As soon as we saw this, we knew for sure; we were going down to the Clans.

"Finally!" Orangefoot cheered. Surprisingly, Sandfur said nothing. He just stared at the ground.

"Um, Sandfur, what's the problem?" I asked, bluntly.

"I… I…" he stammered. "It's nothing."

"Well, it's obviously _something_ , so spit it out, will you?" Orangefoot said.

Sandfur said nothing.

"I think Sandfur is upset about Eaglekit," Flowerstar sneered. "He's sad because we're leaving him behind."

"I'm not"…

"Come on Sandfur," I said, rolling my eyes. "It was your idea. We were going to double the strength of the Nightmare Den, using Eaglekit's powers, so that we could get to the living world faster. If it weren't for that we'd be waiting another moon. And no, we can't bring the kit with us, because he'll only cause trouble." I put my face in front of his. " _Got_ it?"

"Yes," he snapped. "Of course I don't care about Eaglekit. That stupid piece of vermin can rot in StarClan for all I care."

"Then let's go," I answered. "I'm the only one who can get us to the Clans, and I might just leave you behind."

Sandfur bared his teeth at me. I smiled.

"Are we ready?" Orangefoot asked impatiently. "Sure," I said, leading the way into the den.

I was a bit nervous about this, because we were going into unfamiliar territory. It wasn't as if we even knew if this would work; the Nightmare Den didn't seem as stable as the Dream Den. The Dream Den has been standing for seasons and seasons, whereas the Nightmare Den has only been standing for a few moons.

But I knew I was willing to do anything to get revenge, or even die trying. I had to do this. I took a deep breath and looked around at my surroundings.

The Nightmare Den is a complete opposite reflection of the Dream Den. It is on the west border of the Dark Forest, and shines down on the western ShadowClan border, whereas the Dream Den is over the WindClan eastern border. The Nightmare Den has a dark, murky pool in its center, while the Dream Den's pool is clean.

This is the pool we must jump into. Once we do that, we will exit out through another pool, right off the border of ShadowClan. We have named it the Murkypool, because it is the opposite of the Moonpool. This is exactly how the Dream Den works, too. In order to appear in a cat's dream, StarClan cats jump through the water and appear right at the Moonpool. When Cinderpelt reincarnated into another cat, she jumped into the pool in the Dream Den and incanted a special spell to get back to life.

"Guys, get into the water," I said. We all got in, and then I closed my eyes and concentrated.

"You sure you know what you're doing?" Orangefoot whispered back.

"Yes," I replied. I focused my energy on getting us through the water, to another pool, in solid forms.

Suddenly I felt myself getting sucked down a chute. As we were going down, I felt myself solidifying. My fur became warm. My whiskers materialized. My body stopped feeling like an airless spirit and started feeling… _alive_.

We appeared at the Murkypool and swam up to the surface, gasping for air. I laughed a maniacal laugh. This was so great. No one from StarClan could catch us, as long as we stayed outside of Clan borders.

"We finally did it!" Orangefoot cheered. "WAHOO!"

"Now, for our revenge," Flowerstar said, with a smile. "We'll get some rest, and after a few days, we'll be strong enough to put our plan in motion."

* * *

 **I didn't make this very clear before, but Featherheart is Darkstar's daughter, the murdered ShadowClan cat. She is also planning to conspire with Flowerstar and Sandfur. Sorry that wasn't clear until now. It was probably not a good idea to give Frostheart and Featherheart such similar names XD.**

 **Next chapter, again we get more action. I can't say anything without giving it away too much, but stuff does happen, so stay tuned!**

 **AOTD: ****Oh, fruits? Uh… apple, cherry, banana, blackberry, blueberry, mango, papaya, raspberry, pear, passion fruit, orange, grape, tomato (this counts), peach, nectarine, kiwi, melon, strawberry, pomegranate, jackfruit, cranberry, and plum.**

 **QOTD: ****What do you think about Featherheart? We haven't seen much of her before, but what do you think? Like her? Dislike her? Or what?**

 **I'll start sending review replies by PM from now on, but continue to reply to guest reviews here. If for some reason you don't want to receive a reply in your inbox, just let me know!**


	27. Chapter 25: Epiphany

**Hey guys. Daylight Savings Time ends, which is just about the most annoying thing on the planet. I'm all for getting an extra hour of sleep, but it just bothers me. Now I have to adjust all the clocks and everything and… grr, why can't we just have Daylight Savings all year?**

 **Okatu Fernsneeze:** **The notification for PMs still stays? That has never happened to me. That's a problem, maybe you should email support and get them to fix it. Oh, and I'm sorry that you ship Water x Turtle, because a lot of stuff is going to happen with them… Ahem. What else is going on? How is everything going?**

* * *

CHAPTER 25: EPIPHANY

Eaglekit's POV

That evening, I woke up feeling sick and drained. What was the matter? StarClan cats never got sick.

But here I was, barely able to move. I got up and tried walking, but even that was slow. Then I started flying around, but soon I felt so exhausted I had to come straight back to my den.

I collapsed in my nest, closing my eyes. I didn't feel tired, but I felt so weak, I couldn't move.

"Hello, Eaglekit," my mother Purpleflower meowed, coming in. "What's the matter? Why aren't you up and"… she stopped and stared at me. "Eaglekit? Are you alright?"

I didn't answer.

"Speak to me!" Purpleflower cried.

"Mom, I'm fine," I said groggily. But I knew I wasn't.

"I'll go get Willowbranch," Purpleflower said, dashing to the exit. I frowned. What could Willowbranch do? It wasn't as if she could give me some herb to make me feel better. There were no herbs in StarClan simply because no one ever _got_ sick. It was as simple as that.

A moment later, Purpleflower came in with Willowbranch at her heels. "Willowbranch, tell me what's wrong."

Willowbranch leaned down and looked at me. "How do you feel?" she asked.

"Tired," I responded.

"I have a question," she said. "Can you make a circle with your paw?"

Confused, I lifted up my paw. I tried to call on my magic powers to help me draw the circle, but I couldn't. It was as if all the starlight had been sucked out of me.

"Don't worry," Willowbranch assured Purpleflower. "I think I know what the problem is. He's suffering from a case of magic overuse."

"What is that?" Purpleflower asked anxiously.

"It's when you use magic too much," Willowbranch explained. "Eaglekit, exactly how much magic have you used in the past few days?"

"Well," I said, "I used it for a bunch of magic tricks with my friends and a lot of stuff like that."

"Well, it doesn't sound as if that should be hurting you," Willowbranch said, puzzled. "I suppose you've been using magic a lot for the past few days, and it just all added up."

Suddenly, I remembered, and the blood suddenly drained from my face. _The Destiny Den._ I gave so much of my powers to the Destiny Den, which is why I was feeling weak. _But Featherheart gave her powers to the den, and she never felt weak_ , I thought, feeling confused. Or maybe she did and I just don't know about it?

"You'll be fine," Willowbranch said reassuringly. "You just need to rest for a few days." She turned to Purpleflower. "You should go get him something to eat. I'll check on him at moonhigh."

"Okay," Purpleflower said, leaving the den. Willowbranch followed.

I groaned, closing my eyes. How would I be able to go through the Destiny Den with the others, if I wasn't strong enough?

* * *

Swanpaw's POV

At sundown, I came back from a hunting patrol and placed two carps and a trout on the fresh-kill pile. I was supposed to take something to the kits, so I grabbed two carps and went to the nursery.

As I entered, I saw Waterpaw playing with the kits. "I'm the big bad fox, and I'm going to get you!" he growled, puffing out his chest and trying to look scary. Mistkit squealed.

"Why don't we just attack?" asked Ravenkit.

"Good idea!" agreed Mistkit. They both ran at Waterpaw, claws sheathed, and hit him with such force that he fell over.

"Ooomph!" he groaned. "You're strong!"

"Yay!" Mistkit said ecstatically. "Who do you think is going to be our mentors? Who?" She jumped up excitedly.

"That's up to Sassafrasstar," Waterpaw answered. "I don't have any idea."

"I know! I want Waterpaw to be my mentor!" Mistkit yelled. Waterpaw licked his chest in embarrassment. "Well, you see, I'm still an apprentice, so"…

"I know who my mentor will be," Ravenkit interrupted. "Who?" asked Mistkit.

"Goldensun."

"Goldensun's not here, you fish-brain!" Mistkit answered.

"Mistkit! Don't call Ravenkit a fish-brain," Dappledflower scolded, lightly cuffing her daughter over the ears.

"Thank you so much for looking after these two for us," Briarthorn said to Waterpaw, gratefully. "I cannot tell you how much you have helped us. These two are such mischief sometimes!" She affectionately pawed the top of Ravenkit's head.

"Wait, did Swanpaw bring us food?" Mistkit asked, looking over at me. I nodded.

"Oh Swanpaw! How rude of us," Dappledflower apologized. "We didn't even notice you this entire time. Come on in."

I came into the nursery, carrying the two fish. "Um, if you need more, I can go get some," I said.

"Actually, I think we do," Briarthorn said. "Mistkit and Ravenkit are growing, and they need one carp each. They get hungry really fast!"

"I'll go get two more," I said, heading back to the fresh-kill pile.

I was really impressed with Waterpaw. _Great StarClan, he's pretty good with kits._ I knew I could never be that patient.

As I went back, I saw two cats coming up to me. Greennose and Heronclaw. I glared at them, and said coldly, "Well, hello."

"Hi," said Greennose hastily, but Heronclaw intervened. "We didn't come for small talk," he said awkwardly.

"How's your apprenticeship going, Heron _paw_?" I asked nastily. Although Sassafrasstar hadn't changed his name, it was still fun to taunt him about it.

Heronclaw flushed, and was about to say something, but Greennose interrupted him. "We came to apologize," he said.

I stared at them. "Really?"

"We're sorry we ever made fun of you and Hareflight," Greennose said. "I kind of realized… well, it wasn't right of us."

I sighed. "All right." I wasn't exactly ready to forgive, but at least I could accept their apology. It was nice of them to come up to me and attempt.

We looked at each other awkwardly, and I knew that no matter how much they changed, I would probably never be able to fully forgive them. It wasn't what they'd done to me, but it was the way they'd bullied Hareflight and blackmailed Waterpaw. But I hoped they'd be able to change for the better from now on.

"Um, see you around," I said, turning around and heading back to the nursery.

* * *

Later, when the sun had set, Sassafrasstar suddenly called a meeting. "We just found out that Hareflight is missing. We need a search party to look for him. Any volunteers?"

I stared in alarm. Hareflight was missing? This was bad! It probably meant he was captured, or worse… I hoped the same thing hadn't happen to him as Goldensun.

"I volunteer!" I raised my tail. Unfortunately, Sassafrasstar had already selected five warriors in the front row.

"Volewhisker, Snakescale, Mossfoot, Crowclaw, and Dustyfur," she said, addressing the warriors, "Go and find him. Bluemist, can you go with them, in case he is injured?"

I groaned. This was not good. Why couldn't I go on the search party? "Sassafrasstar, I'd like to go!" I suddenly heard myself shout.

Everyone stopped and turned to stare at me. Sassafrasstar frowned.

"You are not going on that patrol," she said sternly. "There are Legion cats on the prowl. Besides, we have a rule against apprentices leaving the camp after dark."

 _You mean a rule which no one ever follows_ , I wanted to say. Feeling embarrassed, I went off to the apprentices' den. The rest of the camp went to their nests, going to sleep. But I could hardly sleep. I turned in my nest and stretched.

 _I have to get out_ , I decided. I didn't care what Sassafrasstar said. I was going to find Hareflight.

* * *

A few moments later, I was in the marsh, carefully prowling around. I didn't want to get stuck in a bog somewhere, with no cat to pull me out until morning. It would be easy to avoid those during the day, but at night I'd have to rely only on my nose and ears.

Once I'd crossed the swamp, I looked out, towards the horseplace. I had no idea where I was going; in fact, I couldn't sense Hareflight's scent anywhere. Where was he?

Suddenly, I felt a few droplets on my fur. Rain? Oh, great. It was only a slight drizzle right now, but it could easily become a downpour. Any trace of his scent would then get washed away!

"We won't be able to find him!" I heard Bluemist say to the patrol. "We've lost his scent. We'll try again in the morning."

I groaned to myself. So they were giving up on him. Well, I was not going to give up on Hareflight. He was my friend, and I couldn't let him get hurt.

I was surprised how much I cared. Two moons ago, I would have scoffed at the notion of friendship. But now, I had a very close friend whom I was worried about. I was surprised how meaningful it was to care about someone in this way.

 _I guess friendship isn't overrated after all_ , I thought. _This just goes to show that friends_ do _look out for each other._

Suddenly, I saw someone running in the rain. "Hareflight? Is that you?" I asked, loudly. The cat stopped in surprise, then ran. I only saw a flash of white fur.

 _Hareflight has some white fur_ , I thought. Breaking into a run, I darted after him. I had to get to Hareflight.

The cat in front of me stopped, and I suddenly realized it wasn't Hareflight at all. It was a white she-cat with pale yellow eyes.

"Frostheart?" I asked in disbelief. **"** What are you doing here?"

Frostheart jumped, and turned around to see me. "I could ask you the same question myself," she snapped. "Aren't apprentices supposed to be in bed? If you don't leave this instant I'll"…

"Report me to Sassafrasstar?" I interrupted. "I know what you're doing. You're looking for Hareflight and trying to get him into trouble."

"You got the first part right," she answered. "Looking for him, yes. Trying to get him into trouble, no. I am not _trying_ to harm Hareflight. That is simply a delightful bonus."

I glared at her in disgust. "Why do you always have to be so strict all the time?"

"Because he's breaking the warrior code!" Frostheart barked. "I don't like it when all of you break the warrior code. If we had some order around here, then we wouldn't have trouble with the Legion, with ShadowClan, and all those other cats! Why can't everyone just follow the rules?"

"But it's the nature of rules to be broken," I pointed out. "Why are you so obsessed with them? It's not a big deal!"

"Rules are made to be _followed_ , Swanpaw!" Frostheart interrupted me. "And you need to have more respect for your elders. If I, or any other adult cat in the Clan, tell you to do something, you just do it. You don't question it; you do as you're told. And I'm telling you to leave."

"I'm not breaking the warrior code," I retorted. "It never says anywhere that 'apprentices shall not wander in their own territory at night'."

"Well, you _are_ breaking camp regulations!" Frostheart snapped back. "You are going to be in _so_ much trouble when we get back. I'll have you and Hareflight on elder duty until the full-moon."

I felt a wave of hot anger rising in my throat. I was about to tell her that I didn't care about her stupid rules, that she could go stick her claws somewhere else, but then she spoke. "Well, it seems like we're both looking for Hareflight, so let's focus on that first. I'll deal with you later." She strode off, leaving me staring at her.

There was no way I'd let Frostheart find Hareflight first. That was going to be me. Who knew how many abusive remarks she'd make if she found him first? I couldn't let that happen. She could yell at me and punish me all she liked, but she wasn't going to hurt Hareflight. I wouldn't let her.

"Help!" I suddenly heard a voice. It was Hareflight!

"I'm coming!" I yelled, running after the voice. But Frostheart had picked up on it before me. She ran up to a bush and peeked into the brambles.

Inside was Hareflight. He was stuck in the bush, in a very uncomfortable position. "I fell out of the tree and hit the brambles. I think I hurt my leg!"

"We'll get you out," Frostheart said. "Swanpaw, break the brambles on his right side."

For once, I listened to her without having to be prompted. I unsheathed my claws and slashed at the brambles. They started to break apart. I got a few scratches in my paw, but I didn't care. When we had finally broken apart enough, Frostheart went in and dragged Hareflight out.

"I hurt my right leg," Hareflight whimpered. I looked at it. Blood was seeping from a wound.

"I think we need cobwebs," I said.

"Right," Frostheart said briskly. "I'll go get some." She dashed off.

Hareflight stared at me. "Frostheart's being nice for a change," he said.

I shook my head. "She's not," I said. "As soon as she wraps your leg, she'll come and yell at you."

I was right. When we had finished cleaning Hareflight's injury and wrapped it, then came question time.

"What are you doing out here?" Frostheart demanded. "Why did you have to leave the camp? And what is that disgusting _smell_?"

I sniffed the air, and then froze. The scent on Hareflight – it was the exact same scent we'd seen of the Legion cats.

"Have you been hanging out with Legion cats?" Frostheart snarled. "How DARE you!" You filthy TRAITOR! I always knew" –

"Shut up!" I screamed at her. Turning to Hareflight, I demanded, "Is this true?"

Hareflight stared at me, his eyes wet. Then he closed his eyes, clearly trying to keep it all in, but it just came out. He began to cry, his tears dripping onto his whiskers and spraying onto the ground.

"It's true," he sobbed. "Everything she says is true! I've been keeping this a secret for such a long time. If it weren't for me, well"… he collapsed on the ground, sobbing, "none of this would have happened!"

* * *

 **HAHAHA. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! (continues to laugh for dramatic effect) You have NO idea how long I've been waiting for this moment. Yes, Hareflight's the traitor! And everyone thought it was Frostheart…**

 **To be fair, I sort of planned it so everyone would point fingers at Frostheart, because she's a hateable character in general.**

 **Next chapter:**

 **\- We see why Hareflight betrayed RiverClan.**

 **\- The truth about Eaglekit's death finally comes out.**

 **\- We also get some more insight into Featherheart's character.**

 **AOTD: ****I'm kind of indifferent about Featherheart, actually. She doesn't interest me as much as some of the other characters, but she's okay.**

 **QOTD:** **By the time I post the next chapter, the election will (hopefully) be over. Don't feel obliged to answer this, but which candidate do you support? Clinton, Trump, or any of the third-parties? And why do you support them? Which candidate do you like the least?**


	28. Chapter 26: Confessions of a Traitor

**Warning: there's one part of this chapter which is kind of violent and gory. Reader discretion is advised…**

 **I'd put a recap here, but I think everyone remembers what happened last chapter.**

 **Okatu Fernsneeze:** **Wow, that is a really long review! You know, my PM replies are generally a lot longer than my replies here, so unless you really don't want me to, I can start sending replies by PM. I won't be able to reply to everything you said right here. Anyways, I feel bad for you. I can relate to what you said about 7** **th** **grade grades counting for advancement programs. My grades last year weren't all that great, and of course, they count for getting into honors the next year. I didn't get into Honors Science this year, which I was sort of upset about. Actually, school's been fine for me this year. I was really overreacting, I thought I wouldn't have any time to write at all once I hit high school, but I actually have a lot more free time for some reason. I dunno why, but high school seems easier than middle school for some reason. I also hate Trump and Clinton. Trump is a racist idiot, and I really didn't want him to win the election. But Clinton sucks too. She's like 'wut iz a privit survur'? Really? Come on. I really won't be able to make this much longer than it already is, but thanks for that lovely long review!**

* * *

CHAPTER 26: CONFESSIONS OF A TRAITOR

 _The next morning_

Hareflight's POV

It was still dark when Bluemist woke me up. "Come," he said. "Sassafrasstar wants to see you."

I bolted upright, feeling a wave of terror in my heart. Frostheart must have already told her, I was sure of it. She was going to kick me out of RiverClan.

"Go on," said Bluemist, not unkindly. I saw a wave of pity in his eyes.

I got up and walked out towards Sassafrasstar and the others, as quickly as my leg would allow me. I had gotten a slight sprain. It wasn't terrible, but I still limped because of it. Bluemist said it would be fine in a few days.

"Come on, lean on me," Swanpaw said, coming close to me.

"We need to leave camp," Sassafrasstar said. "There is a lot we have to talk about, and I do _not_ want the entire Clan hearing about it."

I knew she was referring to the fight I had gotten into with Greennose and Heronclaw. She was still annoyed, because even though she'd tried to keep everything private, the whole Clan ended up knowing about it.

We went all the way to the horseplace. By the time we arrived, I was tired and needed to rest my injured leg. I carefully sat down, without putting any weight on the leg.

"We are here to discuss what happened," said Sassafrasstar, looking at all of us. In addition to me, Sassafrasstar, and Swanpaw, Frostheart was also there.

"I think we all know what happened," Sassafrasstar said, "because yesterday, Swanpaw and Frostheart came up to me and told me everything. Swanpaw seemed to think you were worthy of redemption," she added, looking at me. "So I'll let you explain, and decide what is to be done."

"It's not what you think," I started. "I swear. I didn't mean to"…

"Just say how you ended up as a spy for Luke and his group," Sassafrasstar interrupted.

I sighed, and thought back to that day in greenleaf, about five moons ago, when I'd first become an apprentice…

* * *

 _Flashback_

 _"How was your first day as an apprentice?" Greenpaw asked Harepaw._

 _Harepaw looked up, flattered that Greenpaw would want to talk to him. "It was great," he answered brightly. "We went hunting, and then Frostheart showed me the entire territory! I never knew RiverClan land was so big!"_

 _"Do you know the land well?" Greenpaw asked him._

 _"Well, this is only my first day as an apprentice," Harepaw pointed out. "But soon I'll know the territory well. I'll protect our borders, defend our camp, and be the best warrior ever!"_

 _"Then I have a challenge for you," Greenpaw. "How about you all the way around the territory and come back tonight, without getting lost?"_

 _Surprised, Heronpaw stared at him. "But I can't!" he exclaimed. "How will I not get lost? And what if I get caught?"_

 _"You need to be brave and willing to face the unknown," Greenpaw told him. "Warriors are always like that. Tell you what," he added, seeing Harepaw was looking unconvinced, "if you manage to explore the entire territory and come back, you can be part of our group. You, Heronpaw, and I will be the Terrific Three. How does that sound?"_

 _Harepaw thought for a moment. He was a bit nervous about going into the unknown without anyone to guide him. But he really admired Greenpaw and Heronpaw. And Sweetpaw was always telling him to be more spontaneous, less hesitant. Maybe this was it?_

 _"_ _I'll do it," he meowed._

 _"_ _Great!" said Greenpaw brightly. "Look, just by the southern border, there's the really tall oak tree. You know what an oak looks like, right?" Harepaw nodded; Frostheart had showed him the exact tree that day. "Underneath that, there's a juniper bush. Go grab one of the berries and bring it back. If you do, you can join our group. Got it?"_

 _"_ _Sure!" Harepaw was already trotting towards the exit. "See you later!"_

* * *

 _A few hours later, Harepaw was not so sure._

 _He thought it would only take a small amount of time for him to go to the end of the territory and back. He thought wrong. It was late at night, and he might not even be back until tomorrow morning. He knew everyone would be furious with him when he got back home._

 _So far, he'd had to very carefully cross over the marsh. It was a miracle he hadn't gotten stuck in the swamp. Once he did that, he had passed the horseplace, near WindClan's territory. From there, he was heading south to find the oak tree._

 _He knew he should go back home, but he didn't want to. He had to be a part of Heronpaw and Greenpaw's group. They were the cool apprentices. If he could hang out with them, they would teach him so much about hunting and fighting and everything…_

 _And then he stopped. Right in front of him was the oak tree, taller than Harepaw had remembered from the morning. Or maybe it just looked taller because it was so dark. Whatever the case, he could clearly see the juniper bush in front of him. Excited, Harepaw ran up to it and snagged a blue berry from the side, ignoring the prickliness of the bush._

 _Suddenly, Harepaw heard a rustle in the bushes. A she-cat and a tom were walking together, at the edge of the border. "So this is RiverClan territory," the she-cat said._

 _Harepaw flattened his ears. Clearly these were not Clan cats. He decided to lay low, and then fight them, to show how strong he was._

 _"Not very nice," the tom said. "Oh well. It'll be ours soon enough."_

 _What were they talking about? This belonged to RiverClan. They couldn't just take RiverClan land whenever they wanted to! The she-cat stepped over the scent line, and so did the tom. They walked into the territory, surveying the land. Angrily, Harepaw burst out towards them._

 _"You're in RiverClan territory!" Harepaw heard himself saying. "Leave, you rouges! Or I'll show you the power of RiverClan." He bared his teeth and glared at the two, who stared at him for a moment, not knowing what to say._

 _Then they burst out laughing._

 _"So this is what RiverClan uses for their line of defense," the tom said. "A kit."_

 _"I'm not a kit!" he yelled, outraged. "I'm an_ apprentice _. I'm going to be a warrior!"_

 _"Obviously not a very good one," the she-cat pointed out._

 _"Quiet, Willie," the tom said. "Listen, he can be of good use to us."_

 _"I don't want to be of good use to you guys," Harepaw said. "I'm a RiverClan cat. I'm not loyal to you!"_

 _"Right," the tom said. He advanced on the apprentice and suddenly pinned him down. He unsheathed his claws and held them to Harepaw's throat._

 _"You're going to be our spy," he said. "For the Legion."_

 _Harepaw gulped and stared at the tom, with terror in his eyes. "Let me go," he pleaded._

 _"Not unless you agree to be our spy," he said. He leaned in closer and spat in Harepaw's face. "Or else we'll kill you."_

 _"I… agree," he said in a faint voice._

 _"Good," the tom purred. "Name's Luke, by the way." He let Harepaw go. Harepaw was about to run, but Willie placed her foot on his tail and he screamed._

 _"If you say even one word about this to your Clan," Willie said, through clenched teeth, "you're finished. You, your family, your entire Clan, all of you, finished. Did you hear me?"_

 _Harepaw nodded, trying hard to blink back tears._

 _"Every quarter-moon, I want you to come here," Luke said. "Give me or one of my cats a report on how your Clan is. I want you to tell me everything about how your Clan operates, how Clan life is, and which Clan you are fighting right now. You got that?" When Harepaw nodded, he added, "Jasper will meet with you in a few days. I believe the next quarter-moon is then. Got it?"_

 _"Yes, I understood," Harepaw said, now actually crying._

 _"Aww, the poor widdle kit," Willie laughed. "You disgust me. Go back to your mommy. Actually, first bathe in the stream and wash your fur. You wouldn't want to be reeking of our scent when you go back to camp, would you?"_

 _Harepaw shook his head._

 _"Then go," said Luke, giving him a push. Harepaw left._

* * *

 _When he finally reached home, the entire Clan was up, looking for him. Silvermoon and Goldensun were out of their minds with worry, and Sassafrasstar was furious. She reminded Harepaw of the rule against apprentices leaving camp at night. "You will not leave the camp for a few days," she said. "If you even set one_ whisker _out, I will know about it."_

 _When he reached the apprentices' den, ready to take a nap, Greenpaw came up to him. "You dumb little kit," he sneered. "You failed miserably at scouting the territory."_

 _"But I did everything you said," Harepaw pointed out._

 _"Really? Then where's the juniper berry I told you to bring?"_

 _Harepaw couldn't speak. The juniper berry… he'd forgotten to bring it back. A look of shame crossed over his features as he bowed his head._

 _"_ _See?" Heronpaw sniggered. "The little kit can't even remember to bring just one berry back for us? Well, too bad. You're not going to be part of our group."_

 _"_ _But" –_

 _"Guys, can you be quiet over there?" Brindlepaw interrupted. She flashed Greenpaw a look of dislike._

 _"Bye bye," Greenpaw said lazily. "You could_ never _be a part of our group, Harepaw. You're not smart enough."_

 _And he walked off, with Harepaw staring after him._

* * *

"I'm sorry, Hareflight," said Frostheart, a look of guilt in her eyes. "I didn't know."

"Once again, Greennose and Heronclaw are to blame for _everything_ ," Swanpaw growled.

I shook my head. "It gets worse," I said. I thought again to another scene, a moon-and-a-half later, after having established my place as a spy of the Legion…

* * *

 _"Hello, Featherheart," said Harepaw, dipping his head to the older she-cat. Featherheart, a ShadowClan warrior, had also joined the Legion to spy on the Clans. They were meeting at the island._

 _"Hello," Featherheart said coolly, dipping her head in return. She turned to Jasper. "Darkstar is growing older, and insane. Nowadays Larkflight does most of the work for him." She gave a slight chuckle. "It'll be easy for ShadowClan to fall."_

 _Harepaw stared. How could Featherheart be so cruel? Darkstar was her own father, and yet she was speaking this way about him? What daughter did that? But then Featherheart continued by saying, "I hope you'll spare my Clan, in turn for my service. I don't want anyone in my Clan to suffer because of me.'_

 _"We most certainly will, if you keep to your end of the deal," Jasper replied. "You have been a valuable asset to us, Featherheart. Thank you for your time."_

 _Featherheart gave a quick, curt nod. Jasper then turned to Harepaw. "What about your Clan?"_

 _"Oh me? Um, RiverClan is actually doing quite well," he answered. "It'll be harder for you to come after us."_

 _Jasper's eyes narrowed. "I want to see some action," he said. "Harepaw, by the time we meet again, you need to have thought of a way to weaken your Clan."_

 _"Um, yes," Harepaw said, awkwardly._

 _"This meeting is concluded." Jasper leapt into the water and swam. Featherheart and Harepaw crossed the tree-bridge. She didn't say a word, and neither did he. That was fine with Harepaw._

 _How was he going to 'weaken his Clan'? What should he do? Start a war over boundaries? Accuse another Clan of stealing prey? Harepaw had no idea._

 _"Harepaw?" He suddenly heard a voice. His heart dropped as Eaglekit, one of Sassafrasstar's kits, came out from behind a bush._

 _"What are you doing here?" asked Harepaw._

 _"I saw you leaving camp, so I followed you," Eaglekit said, looking at him with frightened eyes. "You're not going to get me in trouble, are you?"_

 _Harepaw shook his head. "Let's just go home." He led the way, but then Eaglekit spoke._

 _"I know what you did."_

 _Harepaw stopped. "What do you mean?"_

 _"You're planning to weaken RiverClan," said Eaglekit, looking up at him with accusing eyes. "I don't think that's very nice."_

 _Harepaw stared at Eaglekit. He had seen his meeting with Jasper! Harepaw's heart began to race. How would he convince Eaglekit to keep quiet?_

 _"Eaglekit, you just don't understand," began Harepaw. "Maybe when you're older, you'll understand the world isn't black and white. There's a justified wrong, and an unjustified right"… He stopped; he was starting to sound like an elder._

 _"I'm telling Mommy!" screamed Eaglekit._

 _Harepaw panicked. "Don't, Eaglekit!" he shouted. But Eaglekit took no notice._

 _"Who are you talking to, Harepaw?" he suddenly heard Jasper shout, from the other side of the Thunderpath._

 _"Quick, hide," Harepaw hissed. He knew Jasper would have no mercy when he saw Eaglekit. But Eaglekit didn't budge._

 _It was too late by then, anyways. Jasper was crossing the Thunderpath to see the disturbance. He stopped when he saw Eaglekit._

 _"A kit?" the tom asked, baring his teeth. "Why are you spying on us?"_

 _"I wasn't," wailed Eaglekit, hiding behind Harepaw. "Harepaw, get rid of him!"_

 _Jasper dove behind Harepaw and caught the struggling kit in his paws. "This was one night you should have stayed home," he snarled._

 _And then he pounced._ **(Warning: this is the gory part.)**

 _Harepaw winced and closed his eyes, unable to watch the horrible scene. The scent of blood and ripped flesh filled the air. He could hear Eaglekit's screams as loud as ever._

 _When the fighting was over, only then did Harepaw dare to open his eyes. When he did, he stared at Eaglekit's mangled body. It was oozing in blood, barely distinguishable._

 _"Quick, help me dump it in the river," said Jasper. Harepaw felt completely useless as he helped the tom pick up Eaglekit's remains. He could have stopped the fight, could have done something, but he didn't. But he had let Jasper slaughter the poor, innocent kit. That made him just as guilty._

 _'I'm a coward,' he thought, barely able to conceal his tears. 'Eaglekit, I'm so, so sorry. StarClan, please forgive me.'_

 _But the stars were just as cold as the night._

* * *

"They… killed Eaglekit?" gasped Swanpaw.

I nodded miserably. "Yes," I whispered. "I'm sorry."

Sassafrasstar also looked extremely shaken by the news. "All this time we spent looking for him," she murmured. "You could have said something – and you didn't."

"I didn't mean"… I began, but Swanpaw rested her tail on my shoulder.

I looked at Swanpaw in surprise. Why didn't she hate me? I was responsible for the death of her _brother_ , for StarClan's sake! But there was nothing but kindness in her eyes. Kindness and… pity.

Was that all others would ever feel for me? Was I such a miserable, scared cat?

"But there's one thing I don't get," Frostheart said. "Why haven't the Legion attacked yet? If they're so powerful, then why won't they come after us?"

I shook my head. "The Legion cats aren't really as powerful as they make themselves out to be. Their strength rests in recruiting spies and… politics." Looking up at Sassafrasstar, I meowed, "They're the reason why we're even having this war with ShadowClan in the first place."

Sassafrasstar's eyes became wide. "What do you mean?"

"Well," I meowed, "let's just say Darkstar was right. A RiverClan cat _did_ kill Featherheart. And that cat was… me."

* * *

 _Harepaw stared out into the river, still feeling miserable. He had become very quiet the past few days, thinking about what he'd done. It had been another moon and a half since Eaglekit's death, and the Clan had just about given up looking for him._

 _The sneers he got from Heronpaw and Greenpaw didn't make it better. Ever since the day he'd watched Eaglekit die, his skills had progressively become worse. Frostheart was always scolding him, and the other apprentices would always make fun of Harepaw for his lack of ability and courage. The worst part was, Harepaw knew they were right. They were all right._

 _"What are you doing?"_

 _Harepaw woke up with a start, seeing Featherheart across the river. The she-cat stared at him for a moment. Then she swam across the river, into RiverClan territory._

 _"You're in my territory," Harepaw said, dully. None of this mattered to him anymore. Who cared about borders? Harepaw had a kit's death on his conscience, something he could never tell anyone. No matter what, this would always have to be his secret._

 _"I know," the she-cat said, fixing her gaze on Harepaw. Then, out of nowhere, she pounced._

 _Harepaw struggled as Featherheart slammed him to the ground and pinned him. "What are you doing?" he cried._

 _"I'm going to kill you."_

 _"What?" asked Harepaw, unable to keep the panic out of his voice. "What for?"_

 _"You're not a good spy," Featherheart hissed. "I can tell your true loyalty is not with the Legion, but with your Clan. Besides, I want to start a war between WindClan and RiverClan."_

 _"Wh-what?"_

 _"As soon as I kill you," said Featherheart, "I'm going to put you on the RiverClan-WindClan border. RiverClan will think they killed you, when it was actually me. Then the fighting will start, and two Clans will be weakened. This will make it easier for the Legion to attack!"_

 _"Let me go!" He pulled himself out of her grasp and pounced._

 _For a while, Harepaw struggled to fight her. Featherheart was much stronger and more experienced than him, but he had the river to his advantage. He dodged one of her blows and fled to the water._

 _"Oh no you don't!" Featherheart lunged at him and missed. She stood on the riverbank, glaring at Harepaw. "You will not escape!"_

 _"Oh yeah?" Harepaw splashed water in her eyes. She screeched as she was temporarily blinded. He took advantage of that to shove her into the river._

 _Even though Featherheart had practice swimming, she was no match for him. Although his training wasn't exactly the most successful so far, his swimming had been one of the few aspects which had gone well. He had been training intensively for a moon, and Featherheart, although an experienced warrior, hardly ever practiced her swimming. In addition to that, his sleek RiverClan pelt was much more suited to the water than hers._

 _Harepaw shoved Featherheart underwater and held her there. She struggled, but was unable to escape. Finally, Harepaw felt her go limp in his paws._

 _He let her rise to the surface and stared. Featherheart was dead. Her body began to fill with water and sink, but then someone grabbed her. Harepaw looked up to see Jasper hauling Featherheart's body out of the water._

 _"Nice job, kit."_

 _For a moment, he was too stunned to even nod. "W-why are you" – Harepaw began, but Jasper finished for him._

 _"Why am I here? I'm here to spy on the Clans more. Your Clans are so gullible, I can easily walk anywhere without getting caught. And then I saw you kill Featherheart. Nice job."_

 _"B-but now you've lost a spy"…_

 _"That doesn't matter," Jasper said impatiently. "The important thing is, you can do the same thing to her that she intended to do to you. Let's go over to the Thunderpath."_

 _Harepaw followed Jasper as he placed Featherheart's body down._

 _"Now Darkstar will find her, and will know that someone from your Clan killed her," said Jasper. "That will start a major war. Luke will be proud of you."_

 _He left, but Harepaw was stuck staring at the river, which for him would forever be tainted with the thought of death. First Eaglekit was dumped in there, as if he were a fish bone that could be easily disposed of. Then he'd drowned Featherheart, holding her under until she suffocated. There was not only one death he was responsible for, but two. All in one moon._

 _He wished he could tell someone, but he knew there was no cat whom he could trust. If he told anyone, he would be banished from RiverClan._

 _And so he kept quiet, never telling anyone until the day he was caught._

* * *

"Wow," Swanpaw whispered, as I finished my tale. "That's quite a story."

Sassafrasstar stood up. "I think that's enough," she said, quietly. "Listen, Hareflight."

It became very quiet and tense. Frostheart sat up straight, and Swanpaw rested her tail on my shoulder.

"Under normal circumstances, something like this would have gotten you exiled from the Clan, no questions asked," said Sassafrasstar gravely. "Even though you were threatened, you still killed two cats, and broke the warrior code. However"…

Swanpaw's tail was squeezing my shoulder by now.

"However," Sassafrasstar continued, "you were only an apprentice when this all happened. So the punishment is this: for the time being, I'm sending you to live with Clove and Talon. Talon will be returning to his home tomorrow, so I'm sending you to live with him while I make a decision. You will do whatever he says, no questions asked, and you are not permitted to set paw on RiverClan territory for any reason, until I decide you can come back."

"What about Clove?" asked Frostheart.

"Clove wants to stay for a few more days and help around here," said Sassafrasstar. "Then she will leave too."

"Okay," I nodded.

"Let's go home," said Sassafrasstar. "Hareflight, you can come with us for now while I tell Talon and Clove. And I should warn you that it will be _very_ hard to earn my trust in the future."

While we were walking towards camp, Frostheart came up to me. "Hareflight, look, I'm sorry I said such things to you before," she said, eyeing me anxiously. "Please, I" –

I shook my head. "It's a bit late for that now. If you had helped me become a better warrior instead of punishing me all the time, things would have been better. We could have had a good relationship. Maybe I would have even come to you for help, and Eaglekit's and Featherheart's deaths could have been averted. All of this could have been averted. But I guess now we'll never know."

With that, I leaned on Swanpaw, not saying another word the entire way back.

* * *

 **I feel bad for poor Harey. Well, he's not really that poor. He did kill someone.**

 **Next chapter:**

 **\- More drama happens as Sassafrasstar tells the Clan about Hareflight's treachery.**

 **\- A certain ShadowClan cat now wants revenge after finding out what Hareflight has done.**

 **AOTD: ****I hate both Clinton and Trump with all my heart. I really didn't want Trump to win, because he's done some really nasty things. I hate Clinton too – she's sort of an Obama clone. Sorry Democrats, I'm a Republican. It's not that I hated Obama, but having Clinton would be like having Obama for a third term, and we really don't need that. I** ** _was_** **a Bernie supporter, but then he got kicked out, so that sucked. In the end, though, I supported third-party candidate Gary Johnson. Yeah. Don't laugh. He's awesome.**

 **QOTD:** **What do you think about what Hareflight did? Do you think what he did was justified or not?**


	29. Chapter 27: The Calm Before the Storm

**Previously on TRotR…**

 ** _"_** ** _I don't trust Turtlepaw," said Sweetsong. "I think there's something weird about her."_**

 ** _Flamepaw stared at Sweetsong incredulously. "What? But she rescued you! How can you not trust her?"_**

 ** _"Darkstar and Turtlepaw were saying everything as if they… knew what they were going to say," answered Sweetsong." What if the whole thing was staged?"_**

 ** _"But it can't have been staged," Flamepaw pointed out. "Smokepelt, Swampnose, and Rabbittail left ShadowClan. Darkstar wouldn't have sent three of his own warriors out to spy on ThunderClan and RiverClan."_**

 ** _"You're right," she answered, tail drooping. "Oh well, it was a guess all the same."_**

 **Okatu Fernsneeze:** **You don't need to apologize** **for long reviews, I seriously love them. I agree, what Hareflight did was not justified. And it sucks having Trump as our next president, but we kind of have to accept it. I know he's horrible, but I don't think he can do much – right? Even Republicans hate him. I think we agree on everything in regard to Clinton and Trump. I also don't believe the sexual assault claims all the women filed against him. It just seems way too unrealistic that they'd come out about it at the very end of the election, instead of going straight to the police right when it happened. It almost feels as if they did it just to get his poll numbers down.**

* * *

CHAPTER 27: THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM

Eaglekit's POV

I was starting to feel a little better. Although I couldn't leave my den for long, and wasn't allowed to fly, I felt less tired than before. Willowbranch told me that it would take a few more days for me to heal fully.

I've had a lot of visitors since I'd become sick. Illness in StarClan was rare, and everyone was concerned for me. Waterkit, my half-sister, came to visit once.

"Hi, Waterkit. Anything going on in StarClan?"

Waterkit frowned. "Didn't you hear?" she asked me.

"What?"

"Featherheart isn't here anymore," Waterkit said.

"What?" I asked, startled. "What do you mean by that?"

"She _disappeared_ ," Waterkit answered. "Just… gone. Everyone is really worried. We've tried looking for her through the Scrying Pool, but nothing showed up. That can only mean one thing: she's left the Clan borders."

"Do you think she went to visit someone in a different sky?"

"Then she should have told us," Waterkit answered crossly. "You're always allowed to go, as long as you check in with a council member."

I was starting to have a bad feeling about this. I thought of the plan the Dark Forest cats and I had made. We had planned to go to the living world together, but… had they gone without me?

"Eaglekit, are you alright?" asked Waterkit.

"Yeah," I lied. "I'm, um, just tired. Can you"…

"Sure," agreed Waterkit. "See you later." She flew away.

I felt miserable. They probably decided I was of no use to them after all. Sandfur and the others must have gone to the living world without me. But how could they do that? How could Sandfur abandon me?

 _You promised me, Sandfur_ , I thought, putting my head down. _You promised_.

* * *

Swanpaw's POV

"Goodbye, Swanpaw," said Hareflight at sunhigh.

"I'll miss you," I said miserably. I still couldn't believe Hareflight was a traitor. Yes, I'd always known he was a bit clumsy, awkward, and scared at times, but did that make him a bad cat? No. It wasn't his fault he'd ended up with the Legion. It was Greennose's fault.

No matter how many times Greennose apologized, I would not forgive him. If he and Heronclaw hadn't done their stupid dares, then none of this would have happened. Hareflight would not be kicked out of the Clan, and Waterpaw would never have gone out with Turtlepaw in the first place.

"Come on, we need to go," Talon called to Hareflight, a bit impatiently. "You coming or not?"

"See you around," Hareflight said to me. He nuzzled my cheek and strode off.

I watched him until he was nothing but a dot in the distance. When he was finally gone, I turned around and walked back to camp, my tail drooping.

"May all cats old enough to swim join around the Lakeledge for a Clan meeting!" I heard Sassafrasstar call. I heard the sound of several cats coming out of their dens, and joined them around the ledge as well.

"Cats of RiverClan," Sassafrasstar said, "I have identified the traitor in this Clan."

There were shocked murmurs in the crowd. "Who is it?" someone asked. "What are you planning to do?" another cat said.

"It is Hareflight," Sassafrasstar finished.

There were a lot of gasps at this. Silvermoon and Sweetsong pressed together, looking very upset. I saw Silvermoon's ears flattening and Sweetsong's lip trembling, as if she was about to cry. Sassafrasstar had spoken to Sweetsong and Silvermoon about this, so they knew what was coming. But it was still extremely tough on them. They had just lost Goldensun, and now Hareflight had betrayed the Clan – what more was next?

The rest of the Clan, on the other paw, was furious.

"Where is he?" demanded Snakescale.

"Let's drive him out!" Lightsky yowled. "Send him out of the forest!"

"ENOUGH!" Sassafrasstar roared, cracking a nearby twig with a paw. The Clan went silent.

"He's not here," Sassafrasstar said calmly. "Hareflight has gone to live with Talon. When this war is over, I will decide whether he can stay here, or if he has to leave."

"You're being way too nice!" Duskpelt snorted. "I say turn him out. We can't have a cat like that in our Clan!"

Needless to say, I was glad Hareflight wasn't here to listen to this.

"I make the decisions here, not you, Duskpelt," Sassafrasstar pointed out. "I appreciate all your opinions on this subject, and I assure you Hareflight will not get away without punishment. But we will decide on this later.

"Hareflight told me that he witnessed Eaglekit's death, done by Jasper of the Legion," she added. "And it turns out that a RiverClan cat _did_ kill Featherheart after all. It was Hareflight. He did it in self-defense," she added hastily, because some of the cats were staring at each other with raised whiskers, "because she was trying to kill him. We need to find a way of telling Darkstar, before he plans an attack on us."

Swampnose suddenly raised his tail. "Sassafrasstar," he said, "I don't mind going and telling Darkstar. I'm a ShadowClan cat, so he'll probably listen to me."

There were murmurs of agreement at this, but Sassafrasstar shook her head.

"No Swampnose. He will not hesitate to kill you, simply because you betrayed ShadowClan by coming here. In fact, ShadowClan territory should be off-limits for everyone. You saw what he did to Swanpaw, Sweetsong, and Flamepaw."

That was true. There was no way I ever wanted to go there again.

"We'll just have to figure out another way," said Sassafrasstar, when no cat spoke. "This concludes this meeting." She went into her den, and the cats around the Lakeledge dispersed.

I, however, had other plans.

"Um, excuse me?" I asked, climbing the Lakeledge. "Can we talk for a second, Mom?" I immediately felt taken aback by my own words. When was the last time I'd called Sassafrasstar 'Mom'? Now that I thought of it, I realized that I'd never called her that. Other kits called their mothers that, in the nursery, but for some reason, she was always uncomfortable with us calling her that. Maybe it was because we were her foster kits, or maybe it was because she was a leader and couldn't be with her kits all the time.

Sassafrasstar looked surprised too. "Sure, Swanpaw," she said, leading me into her den. "What about?"

"Hareflight," I said, looking at my paws. "Will he be alright with Talon?"

"I'm sure he will," Sassafrasstar said reassuringly. "Talon may not be the most social of cats, but he'll make sure the Legion doesn't bother Hareflight anymore."

"So, when have you decided Hareflight will come back?" I asked eagerly. I could not wait till then. Although Hareflight was only gone for an afternoon, I already missed him.

Sassafrasstar stared moodily into the wall, not answering.

My face suddenly felt cold. "He _is_ coming back, isn't he?"

Sassafrasstar turned around. "I don't know," she said. "He didn't stand up for Eaglekit when he was killed. A true warrior stands up for cats in his Clan, even if it costs him his life. And then he killed Featherheart."

"But it was in self-defense!" I exclaimed.

"I agree," Sassafrasstar said. "But he didn't need to leave her body on the border like that. He should have just let it get swept away in the river. Then we wouldn't have this war."

"But he" – I began, but Sassafrasstar cut me off.

"It's hard being a Clan leader sometimes. I know he's your friend, Swanpaw, but I have to do what's best for the Clan. None of them want Hareflight back. Even if I could trust him, the Clan would reject him. He could never have a place in RiverClan."

I turned away, disappointed. Why couldn't she see that Hareflight was a good cat? That underneath all those secrets he'd kept, there was someone who could be loyal to the Clan, if given a chance?

I sometimes wished that my mother wasn't the Clan leader. It would be so much better to have a parent who could give me sympathy and comfort without having to lecture me about "what's best for the Clan." Why did it have to be her who made all the Clan decisions? Why couldn't it be some other cat?

* * *

"Hey," Waterpaw said, coming up to me, "What's going on?"

"Hareflight's not coming back," I whispered, looking down at my paws. "Sassafrasstar told me so. I'm sorry, Waterpaw," I added. "I know he was your friend."

Waterpaw's eyes misted up. "I'm sorry, too," he said. "I know how much you cared for him."

I stared at her in surprise. "Me?"

"Come on, Swanpaw!" Waterpaw protested. "I think you like him. In fact, the whole _Clan_ knows that you like him. It's kind of, well… obvious."

My whiskers twitched in embarrassment at the mere suggestion. I liked Hareflight? That was ridiculous. How could I like anyone? About two moons ago, I had been virtually the most hated kit in the nursery. But now I liked someone? It just wasn't possible.

"So anyways," I said hastily, "I think you and me should both go up to Sassafrasstar and get her to change her mind" –

"Oh give it up, both of you!" a voice behind me suddenly exploded. "I for one say good riddance. Hareflight's as good as a murderer!"

I whirled around, trying to pinpoint exactly who had spoken. It wasn't too hard. Flamepaw was right behind us, his fur bristling in anger.

"Flamepaw!" Waterpaw shouted, aghast. "Hareflight's my _friend_. How could you say such a thing about him?"

"He as good as killed Eaglekit!" Flamepaw barked. "Yes, he wasn't the one to give the death blow, but he let one of those filthy Legion cats slaughter him! He's the reason why Eaglekit isn't an apprentice alongside us!" He took a step forward. "And he killed Featherheart! He's the reason why we have a war against ShadowClan!" Did you ever think of _that_?"

"How dare you," I snarled. "Featherheart was a _traitor_. _She_ was the one who tried to kill _him_." I noticed Whitepaw coming up behind Flamepaw, clearly with the intent of calming us down. He opened his mouth, but his voice was drowned out as Flamepaw continued to scream at me.

"Well, it's still his fault!" Flamepaw retorted. "After Eaglekit died, he should have come to Sassafrasstar, he should have done something, he" –

"How _could_ he have done anything?" Waterpaw screamed. "Luke said he would kill his entire family if he opened his mouth!"

"Look guys, just calm down" – began Whitepaw.

"What do you think of this?" I flashed at him.

He looked uncomfortable. "Well," he said, "I agree he shouldn't have sat by and watched Jasper kill Eaglekit."

"You see?" Flamepaw cut in. "He agrees! He" –

"But," Whitepaw continued, "you can't fully blame Hareflight, Flamepaw. He was barely an apprentice at the time."

Flamepaw stared at Whitepaw, dismayed. "But Whitepaw, he's a _traitor_. He betrayed his Clan!" He began to pace around. "And if you think even for a second he's done anything to redeem himself, then" –

"Is that what you really think?"

I immediately turned around to see who it was. Sweetsong was standing behind us, a strange look on her face. She was staring at Flamepaw, looking sickened.

"I can't believe I wanted to be friends with you," she whispered. "I thought you were brave to come with me to ShadowClan. But you're just an arrogant, selfish tom, Flamepaw. You're too busy thinking about your own problems to understand. Hareflight's suffered through a lot. Probably more than anything the rest of us have been through."

None of this was said in a cruel or angry voice, but Flamepaw looked more hurt by her words than anyone else's. He flattened his ears.

"I'm sorry, Sweetsong," he said. "But just because he's your brother doesn't mean he gets a clean slate. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm due for a hunting patrol." He stalked off, not bothering to look back. I thought Sweetsong was going to get even more upset, but she just stared at him with dull, glazed eyes.

* * *

Sweetsong's POV

 _Why did you do it, Hareflight?_ I thought, staring at my reflection in the pool. _Why?_

Sitting near a pool by the ShadowClan border, I stared moodily out at the Thunderpath, kicking a stone out onto it. I had cried a lot when Sassafrasstar told us what happened, but I refused to cry anymore.

Why did Hareflight have to betray us all like that? Why would he do this? How COULD he do this? How could he abandon… me?

And how could Flamepaw be so cruel? Why hadn't he supported me? I thought I could actually be his friend, but he was just one of those arrogant toms. I wasn't going to associate with him anymore.

While I sat there, thinking, I suddenly caught some ShadowClan scent. It smelled fresh, and with a jolt, I realized someone was trespassing on our land.

I got up and followed the scent. I couldn't make out which ShadowClan cat it was, but it was headed towards the edge of the Thunderpath.

The Thunderpath abruptly ended at one point. There, I hid behind a bush as two cats came into view. One cat was clearly Darkstar. The other one was Turtlepaw.

I narrowed my eyes. What was she doing here? Why was she talking to him?

"How is RiverClan?" asked Darkstar.

"Oh, they're fine," Turtlepaw purred back. "They don't know anything. They still think I'm on their side. Yes, there are a few of them who are mistrustful, but Sassafrasstar says I'm in her Clan, so that's that."

I stared. So I was right about the conspiracy theory. Turtlepaw was indeed a traitor!

"Have they planned any attacks on us?" asked Darkstar.

"Oh, no," Turtlepaw answered. "They're only concerned about their traitor in Luke's army. They're not even thinking about you!"

"So I'll plan an attack soon," Darkstar said. "Sometime within the next quarter-moon. When we attack, you still have to pretend you're on RiverClan's side. Someone will attack you, but I'll give the Clan orders to make sure you don't get too beaten up – a few scratches at most. Have you found the murderer yet?"

"No," answered Turtlepaw. "I'll keep looking, though."

 _But we_ have _found the murderer_ , I thought, confused. _It's Hareflight._ Maybe she wasn't there at the meeting, when Sassafrasstar told everyone about Hareflight? But I _had_ seen Turtlepaw at Sassafrasstar's meeting. Was it possible that she wasn't really on Darkstar's side? Maybe she was working for someone else? But who could that be?

"Well, let me know if you do find them," said Darkstar, looking disappointed. "See you in a few days."

"Bye Darkstar," Turtlepaw said, walking away. As soon as Darkstar had left, I stormed out from behind the bush and marched right in front of her.

"Okay, show's over," I snarled. "I saw _everything_. What exactly are you up to?"

"Where did you come from?" Turtlepaw asked, trying to hide her alarm. She was largely unsuccessful.

"Why were you with Darkstar?" I demanded. "Tell me right now. You're not leaving until I get an answer."

"Actually, I kind of wanted to talk to you too," Turtlepaw answered. "It's about Hareflight."

I was taken aback. "What do you mean?" I asked. "Why didn't you tell Darkstar about Hareflight? If you're going to choose a side, at least decide which one you're on! Are you on our side, his side, or someone else's side? You should at least figure that out before"…

"I'm on my _own_ side," Turtlepaw hissed back. "Everything I've done is for me."

"Then you're selfish," I answered, not even bothering to think about what I'd just said.

"How _dare_ you," Turtlepaw snarled. "Don't you insult me like that, I" –

"I hate to break it to you, but you're not exactly in a position to be making threats," I interrupted. "Tell me what you're doing _right now_ , and _why_ you're doing it."

Turtlepaw glared at me, for a moment, it looked like she was trying to restrain her words. Then she launched into speech.

"I was heartbroken when Featherheart died," she said, stiffly. "She was the only one in ShadowClan who actually trusted me, despite my WindClan heritage!"

"So you _are_ on Darkstar's side, then," I said, confused.

"No I'm not," Turtlepaw shot back. "Unlike him, I don't hate _all_ RiverClan cats. I even went out with Waterpaw, the son of the RiverClan leader! He's the only other friend I ever had. I confided in Waterpaw whenever there was trouble. He's always there to sympathize with me.

"Darkstar asked me to spy on RiverClan. He wasn't going to actually kill you, you know – it was all an act. I would have said no, but I wanted to find out who the murderer was. He's not the only one who wants to avenge Featherheart – so do I – but I want to do it my way, not his. So I did agree to become his spy, but just for my reasons."

"Did he send Swampnose and the others to spy on us, too?" I asked.

"No, they came on their own accord," Turtlepaw said. "But they didn't interfere in my plans – they didn't even know what I was up to."

I glared at her and unsheathed my claws. "I'm going to tell Sassafrasstar _everything_ you said to me. She'll exile you without a second thought."

"Guess I'll have to kill you, then," Turtlepaw responded, staring at me with a crazed glint in her eyes.

I snorted. "Brave words, apprentice. Don't forget I'm a warrior" – my words were cut short as she slashed me in the muzzle.

"We'll see about that," she said.

I barreled into her, knocking Turtlepaw off her feet and pinning her to the ground. This only worked for a moment, though. Turtlepaw somehow managed to pull herself out and shove me down.

"That's all?" Turtlepaw sneered. "No style, no power when it comes to fighting? You're going to get yourself killed!" She laughed, a high-pitched laugh, and pinned me to the ground.

I hissed, and thought to myself, _This apprentice is way out of line. She needs to be dealt with._ I briefly closed my eyes and allowed her to slash my belly, wincing in pain. But this time, I was ready. As she prepared to strike again, I sprang up and knocked _her_ to the ground.

"Why, you"… Turtlepaw sputtered.

"I'm not done yet," I smirked. With a hiss, I unsheathed my claws and ripped open a side of her flank. Turtlepaw screeched as I clawed and clawed, unmercifully. She was not going to get away with this. If she thought she was going to hurt me and get away with it, she had another one coming.

"What's going on?" someone suddenly shouted. I turned around. An entire RiverClan hunting patrol stood behind us, staring. Sassafrasstar, who happened to be leading the patrol, glared at us.

"May I ask why the two of you are fighting?" Sassafrasstar asked. "I thought we'd dealt with all of this when I punished Greennose and Heronclaw!"

"She"… Turtlepaw began, but I cut her off.

"She's been spying on us," I said. "I just caught her talking to Darkstar on the border and planning an attack."

There were a few gasps from the patrol. Several of them began furiously whispering at once.

"She was just about to kill me," I continued.

"Wait a minute," Waterpaw suddenly interrupted. "This isn't true." He stared at Turtlepaw, his eyes worried. "Tell me it isn't true!"

"It is," Turtlepaw said. Her eyes were sad, but showed no trace of remorse. She stared up at Sassafrasstar. "I'm a spy for ShadowClan, okay? And yes, I was going to kill her. Her brother killed my best friend." She bared her teeth.

"I think that's enough," Sassafrasstar interrupted. "Turtlepaw, in lieu of what you have just said, you are banished from RiverClan. If we see you on our borders after sunrise tomorrow, my warriors have permission to kill you."

"Good riddance," Turtlepaw snorted. But she did not move. She just stood there, staring at the ground.

"Leave RIGHT NOW!" Lightsky roared, glaring at her. "If you don't I'll chase you out myself. Do you want to deal with that?"

"Fine," snarled Turtlepaw, looking back at me. "But I'm not going to let any of you get away with this. Especially not you, Sweetsong! I'll find your brother and take care of him, don't forget that. You'd better sleep with one eye open from now on, because after that I'm coming after you too!" She sauntered off.

"Wait!" Waterpaw suddenly yelled. "Turtlepaw, come BACK! It must have been a mistake! It" –

"Waterpaw!" Sassafrasstar interrupted him. "Get a hold of yourself!"

Waterpaw gulped, clearly trying to hold back tears.

"Your loyalty must be to your Clanmates, and nowhere else," said Sassafrasstar. "If Turtlepaw admitted it herself, then she definitely did attempt to kill Sweetsong. We cannot keep her here any longer."

"Besides," I added, "she's a liar and a fake. She pretended to side with us, when actually, she's Darkstar's spy. Then she lies to Darkstar, just to get her own ends. Do you really think she cared about you? She must have been using you for StarClan-knows what reason."

I looked up and stared at the sky, thinking about the magnitude of problems. This whole thing was messed up. We had threats from ShadowClan, threats from the Legion, and now threats from Turtlepaw – and to think my brother was the cause of all this.

The sky was dark and unwelcoming, as if another storm were coming. Somehow, I knew this wasn't the storm just yet. We were merely in the calm of a storm; everything that happened so far was only a preparation for it.

The worst was yet to come.

* * *

 **After this I'll post a second allegiances for the story. It's about time one was posted, seeing as we're a little less than three-fourths of the way through the story. Yes, we are actually that far in! But the next chapters are where the most excitement happens in the story, so stay tuned.**

 **Next chapter:**

 **We see things from Turtlepaw's point of view. She briefly explains what caused her to become evil, and the full reason why she wants revenge on Hareflight.**

 **We also see a bit more of what Sandfur, Orangefoot, Flowerstar, and Featherheart are planning. It's about time we got back to them!**

 **AOTD: ****I definitely don't think what Hareflight did was justified. His actions were explainable, but not excusable. He just stood there on the side and let the Legion cats kill Eaglekit, which in my opinion makes him just as guilty. Having said all that, we should feel sorry for him, since he was young when it happened and he was too scared to go to anyone about it.**

 **QOTD:** **What do you think of Turtlepaw, now that you've seen this other side of her?**


	30. Allegiances 2

**Note: some of the cat's ranks have been promoted, even the ones that we didn't see being promoted in any ceremony. Even if I wasn't able to give your OC a part in the story, it may still have a higher rank than before.**

* * *

 **ALLEGIANCES II**

* * *

RIVERCLAN

 **LEADER:**

SASSAFRASSTAR: light gray she-cat with dark gray patches, white tail-tip, and deep blue eyes.

 **DEPUTY:**

GOLDENSUN: golden-brown tabby tom with blind amber eyes. **(status – prisoner of the Legion; temporary deputy – Badgerfoot)**

 **MEDICINE CAT:**

BLUEMIST: pale, blue-gray tom with a white underbelly, paws, and tail-tip, and blue eyes.

 **WARRIORS:**

LIGHTSKY: cream-colored tom with copper eyes.

*BADGERFOOT: he has a dark brown, black, and white marbled pelt. He is large and has powerful hind legs and massive paws. His eyes are dark green, and Badgerfoot has a nick in his ear. Temporary deputy of RiverClan.

FROSTHEART: white she-cat with yellow eyes.

*CARPFLIGHT: light brown tabby she-cat with green eyes and long whiskers.

SNAKESCALE: brown-and-cream tom with brown eyes.

BRIGHTLEAF: ginger she-cat with amber eyes.

DUSKPELT: brown tom with amber eyes.

VOLEWHISKER: light gray tom with green eyes.

*SPOTTEDSKY: brown tortoiseshell with light brown muzzle, chest, tail-tip, and paws.

RUSHINGWATER: gray tabby tom with copper eyes.

MOSSFOOT: greenish-brown tom with copper eyes.

DUSTYFUR: light brown tom with amber eyes.

WILDWATER: black-and-white tom with orange-amber eyes, originally ThunderClan.

SILVERMOON: small, black she-cat with a white chest, tail-tip, and paws, silver and gray stripes on her pelt, and ice blue eyes.

LEOPARDHEART: dappled, pale golden she-cat with green eyes.

*BRINDLEFIRE: light brown tabby she-cat with a white underbelly and paws, and amber eyes.

GREENNOSE: greenish-brown tom with green eyes.

HERONCLAW: huge, dark brown tom with amber eyes.

SWEETSONG: beautiful tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat with bright blue eyes. She is much less naïve than before, but is still sometimes too trusting. She is normally very friendly. Aged 11 moons.

 **APPRENTICES:**

FLAMEPAW: gorgeous, black-and-gold tom with a white chest and orange eyes. He doesn't take teasing very well, and is very reclusive. Son of Sandfur and Sassafrasstar. Aged 8 moons.

SWANPAW: delicate, white she-cat with amber eyes. She is hot-tempered, and quick to act defensive and angry. But she is loyal to those whom she considers her friends. Daughter of Purpleflower and Whitestar. Aged 8 moons.

WHITEPAW: albino, white tom with very pale blue eyes. He is not as nervous as before, and is much less clumsy. But he still is always there for his Clan. Son of Purpleflower and Whitestar. Aged 8 moons.

WATERPAW: light gray-and-white tom with sea green eyes. Similarly to Silvermoon, Waterpaw likes to disregard rules (but not to the same extent as her). He is a very cheerful cat, and loyal and honest. Son of Purpleflower and Whitestar. Aged 8 moons.

 **QUEENS:**

DAPPLEDFLOWER: dappled gray she-cat with amber eyes.

 _MOTHER TO MISTKIT, SNAKESCALE'S KIT_

BRIARTHORN: small dark brown she-cat with green eyes.

 _MOTHER TO RAVENKIT, CROWCLAW'S KIT_

 **KITTENS:**

*MISTKIT: silvery-gray tabby she-kit with pale green eyes and a bushy tail.

*RAVENKIT: black-and-white tom-kit with a sleek, long, fluffy tail, one eye green, and one eye amber.

 **ELDERS:**

FERNSTRIPE: pale gray tabby she-cat with pale green eyes.

FROSTYPOOL: white she-cat with copper eyes.

* * *

WINDCLAN

 **LEADER:**

WHITESTAR: white tom with blue eyes.

 **DEPUTY:**

*SUNSTREAK: golden she-cat with a white underbelly and tail-tip, darker golden stripes, and bright blue eyes.

 **MEDICINE CAT:**

MAPLELEAF: tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat with brown eyes.

 **WARRIORS:**

SWIFTRUNNER: black-and-white tom with copper eyes.

 _APPRENTICE, RUNNINGPAW_

GREENFERN: greenish-brown she-cat with green eyes.

JAGUARFOOT: light brown tom with black spots and copper eyes.

GRAYWING: gray tom with amber eyes.

WINDFUR: dark gray she-cat with amber eyes.

MOSSYFUR: light brown she-cat with green eyes.

FIREPELT: dark ginger tom with yellow eyes.

FLAMEFOOT: black tom with orange eyes.

REDLIGHT: reddish-brown tom with orange eyes.

*DARKBIRD: fluffy black she-cat with a white chest and tail-tip with green eyes.

*YELLOWSTRIPE: yellowy-gray tom with sun-yellow eyes.

 **APPRENTICE:**

RUNNINGPAW: gray tom with amber eyes.

 **QUEENS:**

RABBITLEG: small gray she-cat with copper eyes, expecting Redlight's kits.

FLOWERSTEM: light brown she-cat with green eyes, expecting Flamefoot's kits.

 **ELDERS:**

BOULDERFOOT: black tom with amber eyes.

TIMBERFUR: light brown tabby tom with amber eyes.

* * *

THUNDERCLAN

 **LEADER:**

*CROWSTAR: strong and sleek ginger tom with brown spots.

 **DEPUTY:**

*GOLDENEAR: ginger tabby she-cat with dark amber eyes.

 **MEDICINE CAT:**

OAKLEAF: brown tabby tom with green eyes.

 **WARRIORS:**

GINGERTAIL: ginger she-cat with amber eyes.

EAGLECLAW: pale brown tom with green eyes.

HARESTEP: light gray tom with copper eyes.

MORNINGFLOWER: white she-cat with green eyes.

LIGHTLEG: cream-colored tom with amber eyes.

DOENOSE: spotted, light brown she-cat with amber eyes.

STAGLEAP: spotted, light brown tom with green eyes.

 _APPRENTICE, LIONPAW_

FALLINGLEAF: ginger tom with green eyes.

MEADOWGRASS: brown she-cat with copper eyes.

ICEFUR: white tom with amber eyes.

*REDCLAW: reddish-brown tom with blood-orange eyes.

*SQUIRRELSTEP: brown-and-white tabby she-cat.

 **APPRENTICE:**

*LIONPAW: a golden tom with brown ears, paws, neck, and tail-tip. He is larger than most cats, and has bright amber eyes.

 **ELDERS:**

GRAYBREEZE: dark gray tom.

RAINWISH: light gray tom with dark gray paws and muzzle.

* * *

SHADOWCLAN

 **LEADER:**

*DARKSTAR: broad-shouldered, dark tabby tom.

 **DEPUTY:**

*LARKFLIGHT: small she-cat with a marbled black-and-white pelt, yellow eyes, a pink nose, a fluffy tail, and long front claws.

 **MEDICINE CAT:**

PINEFUR: old gray tom with amber eyes.

MISTFUR: light gray tabby she-cat with a white chest and blue eyes.

 **WARRIORS:**

*SMOKEPELT: mottled dark gray with three white paws, a white chest, and copper eyes. **(status – temporary member of ThunderClan)**

*RAINSTORM: gray tabby tom with dark green eyes and white on his muzzle, chest, underbelly, front paw, and tail-tip.

*GINGERSPIKE: ginger-and-white tabby with blue eyes.

*RABBITTAIL: small tom with a thick, light brown pelt that is speckled with white and dark brown. He has amber eyes. **(status – temporary member of ThunderClan)**

*SWAMPNOSE: dark brown tom with copper eyes. **(status – temporary member of RiverClan)**

ROSELEAF: pinkish-gray she-cat with brown eyes.

LEAFSPLASH: light brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes.

TIGERSTRIPE: dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes.

*ORANGEFUR: dark ginger tom with light orange eyes.

*FRONTFOOT: pale gray tabby tom with green eyes.

 **APPRENTICES:**

*CEDARPAW: small ginger tabby tom with white legs, underbelly, and chest, dark green eyes.

*FEATHERPAW: silver-and-white tabby she-cat with blue eyes.

*FOXPAW: large, broad-shouldered, ginger-and-white tabby tom with blue eyes.

* * *

STARCLAN

HOLLYLEAF: black she-cat with a red nose, leaf-green eyes, and light green starlight on her fur.

LIONBLAZE: long-haired, golden tom with orange eyes and red-orange starlight on his fur.

JAYFEATHER: gray tabby tom with blue eyes and dark blue starlight on his fur.

DOVEWING: pale gray she-cat with amber eyes and pink starlight on her fur.

PINKFLOWER: albino, white she-cat with rare magenta eyes and pink starlight on her fur.

WATERKIT: silvery-blue she-cat with big teal eyes and aqua starlight on her fur.

DARKSHADOW: dark gray tom with amber eyes and light gray starlight on his fur.

PURPLEFLOWER: albino, white she-cat with rare violet eyes and purple starlight on her fur.

MIDNIGHTSTAR: black she-cat with a white paw and dark blue eyes, and dark blue starlight on her fur.

WILLOWBRANCH: slender, light gray tabby she-cat with green eyes and olive green starlight on her fur.

EAGLEKIT: handsome, cream-colored tom with a brown underbelly and brown paws, green eyes, and olive starlight on his fur. He can be quite naïve at times; despite being the same age as his siblings, he still acts like a kit at times. He always tries to do what he thinks is best, even if it means harming others. He is also very quick to trust other cats, and when he thinks he can trust someone, he is completely hooked. Son of Purpleflower and Whitestar. Died at 4 moons of age.

FEATHERHEART: soft-furred, silver tabby she-cat with green eyes. **(status – reincarnated as a living cat)**

* * *

PLACE OF NO STARS

SANDFUR: cream-colored tom with amber eyes. **(status – reincarnated as a living cat)**

ORANGEFOOT: ginger tom with light orange eyes. **(status – reincarnated as a living cat)**

FLOWERSTAR: glossy, brown she-cat with amber eyes. **(status – reincarnated as a living cat)**

* * *

CATS OUTSIDE THE CLANS

 **THE LEGION:**

LUKE: sand-colored tabby tom with brown eyes, a long tail, and tufted ears and tail. (leader of the Legion)

SOOT: black tom with green eyes. (Luke's second-in-command)

WILLIE: gray tabby she-cat with blue eyes.

KETTLE: light brown tabby she-cat with blue eyes.

JASPER: brown tom with amber eyes.

GOLDENSUN: golden-brown tabby tom with blind amber eyes. (prisoner of the Legion)

 **LONERS:**

*CLOVE: thick-furred, dark brown she-cat with a white chest and underbelly. She has chestnut stripes on her pelt and amber eyes.

*TALON: huge, handsome dark brown tabby tom with thick fur, tan underbelly, chestnut stripes, and green eyes.

HAREFLIGHT: golden-brown tabby tom with white patches and blue eyes. He is still not confident, especially since his biggest secret is fully exposed. Foster son of Goldensun and Silvermoon. Aged 11 moons.

TURTLEPAW: tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes.


	31. Chapter 28: Turtlepaw's Story

**This week's chapter is different. We take a bit of a break from the mayhem in RiverClan to see what's going on in Turtlepaw's head.**

 ** _"Turtlepaw's been spying on us," Sweetsong said. "I just caught her talking to Darkstar on the border and planning an attack."_**

 ** _There were a few gasps from the patrol. Several of them began furiously whispering at once._**

 ** _"She was just about to kill me," Sweetsong continued._**

 ** _"Wait a minute," Waterpaw suddenly interrupted. "This isn't true. Tell me it isn't true!"_**

 ** _"It's true," Turtlepaw said. She stared up at Sassafrasstar. "I'm a spy for ShadowClan, okay? And yes, I was going to kill her. Her brother killed my best friend."_**

 ** _"I think that's enough," Sassafrasstar interrupted. "Turtlepaw, you are banished from RiverClan. If we see you on our borders after sunrise tomorrow, my warriors have permission to kill you."_**

 ** _"Good riddance," Turtlepaw snorted. But she did not move. She just stood there, staring at the ground._**

 ** _"Leave RIGHT NOW!" Lightsky roared. "If you don't I'll chase you out myself. Do you want to deal with that?"_**

 ** _"Fine," snarled Turtlepaw. "But I'm not going to let any of you get away with this. Especially not you, Sweetsong! I'll find your brother and take care of him. You'd better sleep with one eye open from now on, because after that I'm coming after you too!" And with that, she sauntered off._**

 **Starflower6: ****You think Frostheart's the traitor? Be careful there, careful… Oh, thanks for telling me that mistake in the Allegiances. I just fixed it, is that good?**

* * *

CHAPTER 28: TURTLEPAW'S STORY

Turtlepaw's POV

Those stupid fools. They had no idea what I was up to. My time in RiverClan had nothing to do with them. They labeled me as a traitor to their Clan, but they're wrong. How could I betray RiverClan when I wasn't even part of their Clan in the first place? They made it clear that they didn't want me there. The only cat who wanted me was Waterpaw.

I felt a twinge of guilt for leaving him behind. I regretted ignoring him just as I left RiverClan. When he called out to me, I should have said bye, or apologized, or _something_. But I couldn't let anyone interfere with my plans. I loved Waterpaw, but he wasn't someone I really needed. Revenge was something I needed. I had to place duty over love.

I turned at the RiverClan border and went west – not towards ShadowClan territory, but to another place. A place that was away from all Clan borders.

I was headed to the Dark Forest cats' hideaway.

Two nights ago, I got a dream from Featherheart, saying that she and the Dark Forest cats were near the Murkypool, and they wanted me to come and get prey for them. I had tried to, but it wasn't easy. Since none of the RiverClan cats trusted me, there was always someone watching me, which made it difficult to leave camp. I was lucky I managed to sneak out to report to Darkstar. And ever since they found out about Hareflight's treachery, RiverClan enforced camp security, putting _two_ warriors on guard duty instead of one. That made it nearly impossible to sneak out.

Is it not obvious, by now, whose side I'm on? Alright, I'll say it. I'm working for Featherheart and the Dark Forest cats.

I thought back to the day when Flowerstar recruited me to be a part of her group. At first, I didn't want to, but after Featherheart's death, I was willing to do anything to get revenge…

* * *

 _Flashback_

 _Turtlepaw was walking in the swamp, looking for prey. Today was the day of her second solo hunting assessment and she did not want to mess up. She had to prove her loyalty to her Clan._

 _She was sick of being labeled as "Flowerstar's kit" and "the WindClan cat". The only cat who cared about her in the Clan was Featherheart, the daughter of Darkstar. Even Larkflight, her mentor, and a few other cats, were friendly, but they just treated her like any other Clanmate._

 _Turtlepaw wondered why she hadn't just stayed in WindClan. But there, the taunting was worse. After Flowerstar's death, the WindClan apprentices were merciless. They would insult Turtlepaw and tell her to rot in the Dark Forest with her mother. Two apprentices even beat her up. Finally, after one moon, she had enough. She went to ShadowClan and begged them to take her in. There were still plenty of cats who didn't trust her there, but at least no one had tried to hurt her._

 _As Turtlepaw walked, she suddenly caught a horrible smell. 'What is that?' she wondered. It smelled of flies, and… blood. Where was it?_

 _'_ _It's coming from the border,' Turtlepaw thought suddenly. 'Did some mouse get run over at the Thunderpath?' Whatever the case was, she was curious. She had to know._

 _As she ran, the scent got stronger and stronger. It reeked more and more of blood, until… she saw a cat's body lying outstretched on the border._

 _For a moment, Turtlepaw didn't know what to think. She couldn't recognize the scent, because there was mud all over the body. Was it a RiverClan cat who'd been attacked and killed? There was no sign of any fox or badger nearby. Could it have been a rouge? It took her a full minute to realize it was a ShadowClan cat. When she looked closely, she gasped._

 _The cat was Featherheart._

 _No. This couldn't be right. Not her best friend. It just couldn't be._

 _Turtlepaw stumbled back and let out a piercing scream._

 _"_ _Turtlepaw! What's the matter?" she heard a shout. Gingerspike, one of the ShadowClan queens, came running towards her. "Is someone attacking you? Is"… She stopped short as she saw Featherheart's body lying on the border._

 _For a moment, neither of them knew what to say. Gingerspike laid her tail on Turtlepaw's shoulders as she sobbed._

 _"_ _Let's get you home," Gingerspike said gently, guiding the apprentice forwards. She helped Turtlepaw drag Featherheart's body all the way back home._

* * *

 _During the vigil, Turtlepaw struggled to stay awake. She knew it was disrespectful to sleep during a vigil, but she felt so… tired. After all the things that happened that day, she just couldn't stay awake. Turtlepaw succumbed to her tiredness and went to sleep._

 _She woke up to see a forest with birds, thick green foliage, and dazzling sunlight. It was a beautiful forest, not like one she had ever seen before._

 _"_ _Turtlepaw!" She heard a shout. From behind her, Featherheart was running up to Turtlepaw, and embraced her with a lick on the shoulder._

 _"_ _How is StarClan?" asked Turtlepaw, nuzzling her friend on the shoulder._

 _"_ _Oh, it's beautiful," said Featherheart. "But I didn't come here for socialization, I'm afraid. I'm here to bring someone to you."_

 _Turtlepaw stared as Flowerstar, her mother, came out from behind a tree. "M-Mom?" she stammered._

 _"_ _It is me, Turtlepaw," said Flowerstar, clearly hoping to talk with Turtlepaw too. But she turned her back on her mom._

 _"_ _No, Flowerstar, I don't want to talk to you," said Turtlepaw through gritted teeth. "You're an evil and cruel cat. You tried to take over all the Clans and make them yours. You killed innocent cats in ShadowClan, and imprisoned those who dared to stand up against you. And now everyone hates me because of your actions. I don't want anything to do with you!"_

 _Flowerstar stared at Turtlepaw, looking truly hurt. She came up to her daughter. "Do you really think that of me?" she asked, quietly._

 _"_ _Yes," Turtlepaw answered._

 _"_ _Turtlepaw," sighed Flowerstar, "I've come to regret my actions. What I did was inexcusable. Maybe if you listen to me and give me another chance, you'll understand."_

 _"_ _What is it?"_

 _"_ _I don't stand on the side of evil anymore," Flowerstar replied. "I stand on the side of truth and justice. And that is what we are here to talk about."_

 _Featherheart began speaking. "We're here to ask you a favor," she said._

 _"_ _What?" Turtlepaw asked._

 _"_ _I want to find out the cat who killed me," Featherheart answered. "I want justice to be served to them."_

 _"_ _You don't know who killed you?" Turtlepaw asked, surprised._

 _"_ _New StarClan policy," Featherheart explained. "If you were killed by some other cat, you are not allowed to remember who your murderer is. It just came into effect, so this policy doesn't affect any of the older StarClan cats, but it affects me."_

 _Turtlepaw hesitated. On one paw, she didn't really trust her mother. She knew her mother was cruel and evil, and doubted that she had changed much since her death. On the other paw, she would do just about anything for Featherheart. And she wasn't really asking for much. She just wanted justice to be served._

 _"_ _I'll try to find out," Turtlepaw answered._

 _"_ _That's great!" Flowerstar said. "Every few days or so, one of us will visit you like this, ok? Just give us an update on what's going on in your Clan."_

 _"_ _Okay," she said._

 _"_ _Bye," said Featherheart. The dream started to dissolve, until Turtlepaw found herself in darkness once more._

 _End of Flashback_

* * *

Over the next two moons, they continued to visit me. They started to reveal more and more about their plans. Flowerstar and the other Dark Forest cats, Sandfur and Orangefoot, were planning to find a way to come back to life, so they could re-live life as Clan cats and make up for their sins.

Now that they had come back to life, I was heading towards their home, ready to help them in any way I could.

Soon, I reached the western RiverClan border. I crossed over it and went into unfamiliar territory. Flowerstar said they weren't very far away from Clan territory. Soon, I walked a while, until…

I found it. I saw a dark, murky pool of water in the center of a clearing. To the right, there was a small cave.

"Turtlepaw! Finally, there you are," I heard a shout. Orangefoot stuck his head out of the den, looking angry. "What took you so long? We've been waiting for you for two days! Two days is a long time to go without eating."

"Why couldn't you hunt?" I asked.

"We're not strong enough," Flowerstar answered. "It'll take us some time to regain our strength. Go and hunt for us."

"All right," I sighed. I went out into the woods and looked for something to eat. It only took a small amount of time to find two squirrels, a mouse, and a possum.

"Finally," sighed Orangefoot, when I came back to their camp.

Orangefoot and Sandfur each got a squirrel, Flowerstar had the mouse, and Featherheart and I shared the possum. I'd never had possum before, but I had to admit it tasted pretty good. Featherheart said it was the best meal she'd eaten in a while. Of course, anything will taste good after two days of starvation, but I didn't bother to point that out.

"Featherheart, I found the cat who killed you," I said. Featherheart nearly dropped her possum in shock. "Who?"

"It's Hareflight of RiverClan," I said triumphantly. "He was convicted as a Clan traitor and sent off to live with some loner. I don't know what kind of a punishment that is. Anyways," I added, snorting, "I still don't know his location as of now, but I'll work on it."

"Yeah, work on it," agreed Flowerstar. "Look, stick around for a few days, will you? We need you to hunt for us and help us plan our revenge. Then in three days' time, you and Featherheart can go and look for Hareflight" –

"Wait, I have a better idea," Sandfur interrupted. We all stopped and stared at him.

Flowerstar frowned. "What do you want, Sandfur?"

"If you kill Hareflight, we still have Sassafrasstar to deal with," Sandfur said. "Why don't we just kill two mice with one claw? After you and Featherheart deal with Hareflight, go and catnap a RiverClan cat, preferably someone close to Sassafrasstar, and bring them here. Make sure your scent trail is strong so that we can lead Sassafrasstar straight back to us. We can then torture and kill her ourselves."

Featherheart shrugged. "Actually, that is a pretty good idea."

I nodded in agreement. Flowerstar looked as if she'd beg to differ, but she nodded. "All right. We can do that."

"I'm going to sleep," Featherheart yawned, heading to her moss nest.

I found some moss and arranged it right next to Featherheart, curling up beside her. Everything was going perfectly. Only three more days until it was all over.

* * *

 **So Turtlepaw is working with the DF cats! How many of you saw that coming?**

 **Next chapter:**

 **\- Eaglekit decides to play truant.**

 **\- Frostheart explains her side of the story to Swanpaw.**

 **\- Waterkit finally returns to the scene! She plays an important role in the story, actually, and helps Eaglekit a lot.**

 **AOTD: ****Meh, I actually really don't like Turtlepaw. She's one of those annoying people who whine all the time and play victim, when they're really the ones at fault. Let's hope she improves over the next chapters!**

 **QOTD:** **Out of all the four villains (five, if you include Turtlepaw), which one do you like the most and why? Who is your least favorite?**


	32. Chapter 29: Eaglekit's Omen

**No time to update GSC today, I'm running late for an activity and am barely managing to squeeze time to post this. No recap of last chapter either.**

 **Okatu Fernsneeze:** **Yeah, Flowerstar is sort of like those "sickly-sweet" villains that we've seen. Turtlepaw, yeah, there's something off with her. But then again, there's something off with all the villains. If you want to get revenge for something that was really your fault to begin with, you definitely have a problem. Aw, and sorry for crushing your dreams as a shipper. But I just had to do it! We'll see if Our Prophet can redeem them and forgive them for all they've done.**

* * *

CHAPTER 29: EAGLEKIT'S OMEN

 _In the evening_

Eaglekit's POV

I finally had enough. If Sandfur and the others thought they could just go down to the living world without me, then that was too bad. I was going after them.

I was still weak after my illness, so I struggled to pull myself out of my nest and fly towards Silverpelt. My movements felt slower and heavier than ever, but I forced myself to keep moving. _Almost there… you can do it…_

Finally, I collapsed at the base of Silverpelt, exhausted. After a few minutes, I got up and walked. Even walking required energy, but I made myself keep moving. Eventually, I reached the edge of Silverpelt, crossed into the Dark Forest, and continued on to the Destiny Den.

I was a bit nervous walking in the Dark Forest myself. I'd done it before, when I tried to reach the Destiny Den to make contact with Flamepaw. But I felt safer because Sandfur was somewhere in that forest. Now, he was no longer there.

I reached the Destiny Den and sat down for a while, taking a rest before going in. I put my head in my paws, wondering what they were doing.

Suppose they were in the Clans already? How were they making up for their mistakes? _Are they going in the form of rouge cats, or in their regular forms?_ I thought.

Before I could think of anything else, I suddenly felt my vision going blurry. What was it? Was it a side effect of the illness? Whatever the case was, I knew I was about to faint in the middle of the Dark Forest.

My vision became even blurrier, and then I knew what it was. It wasn't an ordinary sleep or dream. No, nothing like that.

I was having my first-ever vision.

* * *

All I saw around me was a large cave. I stared around, wondering what was going on. The exits, on both sides of the cave, were two tunnels.

 _I'm underground,_ I realized. I immediately began to feel a bit anxious. What was going to happen down here? I heard of cats getting trapped underground, or worse…

A sudden rumble caught my attention. The cave walls started collapsing, and rocks tumbled down from the ceiling! Below my paws, the ground was shaking. _Great StarClan!_ I thought. _What's happening?_

A massive rumble made the ceiling fall down. Thankfully, it only fell after I had escaped through one of the tunnels. _That was close,_ I thought.

Then I saw something. Clan cats were running down one of the tunnels in front of me! They were… my siblings? Which ones were they? I strained my eyes but couldn't figure out. Behind me, I heard a loud, maniacal laugh, a cheer of delight, and then silence.

I felt the vision dissolve away, and move slowly into darkness.

* * *

"Hello."

I lifted my head, alarmed. Who said that? Was it a Dark Forest cat? Slowly, my vision came into focus. I saw a silvery-blue she cat standing in front of me, her eyes narrowed. It was Waterkit.

I gulped. Maybe this was _worse_ than a Dark Forest cat.

"I saw you going to the Dark Forest," Waterkit said. "There'd better be a good reason for leaving StarClan. Explain yourself."

"Um, well, you see"… my eyes darted to the side.

"Tell me _everything_ ," Waterkit demanded.

Sighing, I told her the whole story, about being recruited to help Sandfur and his cats. When I was done, Waterkit paced around.

"You're a fool," she said. "You don't know what these cats are capable of. I can't believe you fell for that."

"But they said they were sorry!" I exclaimed. "They regretted their mistakes. And I thought you believed in second chances!"

"Yes, but only to those who deserve it!" Waterkit exclaimed. "These four don't deserve a second chance. Trust me, they're back for some trouble."

… "So what are we going to do?"

"We're not going to the council," Waterkit said firmly. "You'll get in trouble if we tell them what you did. We can't go down to the living world as spirit-cats either, because we won't really be able to help. There's only one thing to do – we have to go through the Nightmare Den and re-materialize as living cats."

* * *

Swanpaw's POV

I walked towards the fresh-kill pile, ready to eat dinner. This afternoon, when Sassafrasstar gave us the news about Turtlepaw's banishment and her attempt to kill Sweetsong, the Clan was, suffice to say, surprised. But I wasn't surprised in the least. I always knew there was something wrong with her, and I'm glad she's gone.

I was really worried about Hareflight, though. Suppose she followed through with her threats and managed to reach him after all? But Sassafrasstar assured everyone she didn't know of Hareflight's location. Clove also pointed out that, if it came to it, Talon was more than capable of defending his home from Turtlepaw.

I picked up a crow from the pile. It was rare that we got birds, especially during leaf-bare, so I was eager to try it. I was about to take a bite when I heard someone speaking to me.

"Swanpaw, can you come with me?" I looked up and saw Frostheart. She was staring at me with a surprisingly desperate look in her eyes.

"What do you want?" I asked coldly, refusing to acknowledge her. I didn't want anything to do with Frostheart. If she felt any pain at what had happened, then she deserved it. I for one didn't even want to speak to her.

"It's about Hareflight," she said.

"Well, duh," I sneered. "Your apprentice, right? Oh, sorry, I forgot. He's not your apprentice anymore, because YOU GOT HIM KICKED OUT OF RIVERCLAN!"

"Calm down!" Frostheart hissed, agitated. A few cats looked up from their meals and stared at us. "If you will just hear me out for a second, you'll know why I reacted the way I did."

"I'm not interested," I replied. She tried to speak again, but I glared at her.

"If you don't go away, _I'll_ leave," I said coolly. "I can go and tell Sassafrasstar that you've been bothering me, and tell her all the things you said to Hareflight."

Frostheart's face paled.

"Yeah, I know about that," I laughed. "Hareflight told me, back when he was an apprentice. You told him he should live with the kittypets. Oh, and there was that day, when you yelled at him for stepping in a bees' nest. I heard everything."

"You can't blame me for that," Frostheart protested. "I'll admit to all the other things, but that day, I warned him there was a bees' nest in the area. He didn't listen, and got himself caught up in it. We lost an entire day of training for that. How else was I supposed to react? Maybe I was too harsh, but at that point, I'd really lost patience with him."

I had to admit, that did make a bit of sense. And Frostheart did seem willing to admit to her mistakes. "Fine," I said, "Tell me what you were going to say. But say it quickly."

Frostheart nodded. She looked ashamed, which was very much unlike herself. "So, do you remember when I came to live in RiverClan?" she asked. "Wait, you were only a moon old then, so you probably don't remember. Not all of us are born in RiverClan, Swanpaw. Some cats, like Carpflight, Spottedsky, Badgerfoot, and I were from elsewhere. We come from north, and were all loners in a city. We didn't know each other until we made the journey over here, but we're still from the same city" –

"What's a city?" I interrupted.

"Oh, it's another name for a Twolegplace," Frostheart answered. "So anyways, this story takes place long before I came here. It's a story about me and my sister, when we were leaving the city to find a better place to live."

"The Clans?" I guessed.

"No," answered Frostheart. "We weren't looking for the Clans. We had heard of them, but doubted they would take loners in. So anyways, my sister's name was Violet. She was my younger sister, and I would always look after her. We were polar opposites: I was cautious, reserved, and observant, but she was naïve and playful. She also was mischievous at times. Whenever I told her to do something, she would do the exact opposite. I once told her not to run across a road, which is what you would call a Thunderpath. She didn't listen, and nearly got hit by a monster." She shook her head. "She never tried _that_ again.

"We didn't have parents. My mother abandoned us soon after Violet was born, and my father died shortly after. Since then, I've been the one to take care of her. I tried to teach her what we would call common sense rules: don't talk to strangers, don't go near Twolegs, and always stick with me."

"So then what happened?" I asked, starting to get interested. It looked like Frostheart _did_ have something important to say. It didn't mean I was ready to forgive her, of course, but I would listen.

"Violet and I couldn't stay in the city any longer," Frostheart explained. "There wasn't enough food there for us, so we left, hoping to find a place where we could live in peace together. And then"… She hesitated, as if she didn't want to go on. "The night we left the city, we had a huge fight. She missed it and wanted to go back, but I tried to explain to her that we couldn't. Violet was furious with me, complaining that I was always trying to ruin her fun. I don't remember much after that, but"… She drew a deep breath. "Violet was so mad she ran off. The next morning, I went to look for her, and found her dead, near a badger den."

I gasped, not knowing what to say.

"Then the badger came out and found me. He was about to attack, but then, that was when I met Carpflight, Spottedsky, and Badgerfoot. They found me and rescued me from the badger. Afterwards, they told me they were headed towards the Clans. I agreed to go with them. We went together, and traveled a long way until we reached ThunderClan. ThunderClan didn't want us, and they chased us out. ShadowClan was even less friendly. But then we reached RiverClan, and Sassafrasstar took us in."

"That's quite some story," I murmured. "But I still don't get why you're so strict about the rules."

"Well," said Frostheart, "I wanted badly to prove myself when I came here, and somehow, make it up to my sister and prove that she hadn't died in vain. So I worked hard to understand the ways of the warrior code. When I got my first apprentice, Brindlefire, I worked hard to make her understand the warrior code as well. Life in the Clans was so much simpler than life outside: you could live together as a group, instead of having to live on your own. Since I had failed in teaching Violet, I made sure things didn't go wrong with Brindlefire." She looked at her paws. "It went well. But by then, I had become a rule-freak. I made sure all the kits and apprentices knew the Clan rules and followed them. I knew that if they didn't, the same thing could happen to them as Violet."

"I understand now," I said. And I did. Everything suddenly made so much more sense. "But why do you need to be so strict about every single rule? How is it possible to follow all of them? No cat can be perfect. And besides, sometimes death is unavoidable. I don't think it was your fault Violet died. She made her own choices."

Frostheart looked up at me, and then smiled. It was the first real smile I had ever seen on her face. I realized all this time, she really did care about us. She just had a different way of showing it, that was all.

"I'll try to be more relaxed about rules from now on," Frostheart promised.

I grinned, but my smile was cut short as I heard a yell.

"AARGH!" Flamepaw came flying into camp, with Carpflight right behind him. "We're under attack!" he yelled.

"What?" asked Badgerfoot, taking notice of the black-and-gold tom. "Who?"

"ShadowClan," Carpflight said, giving her apprentice a reassuring lick before continuing. "We just saw them walking in the marshes. Darkstar literally brought his entire Clan here. So we'd better get ready for battle." Carpflight looked over at all of us, and added, " _Now_."

* * *

 **It's been a while since we've focused on the stuff going on with ShadowClan! But we're getting to battle now.**

 **Next chapter:**

 **\- Flamepaw plays a critical role in saving his Clan from defeat.**

 **\- An unexpected (and unwelcome) cat comes to RiverClan, forcing them to make a plan about how they are going to defeat the Legion and get Goldensun back.**

 **AOTD:** **I love Flowerstar the most. She's eeeevil. Turtlepaw is definitely my least favorite, because of her whininess. Actually, I hate Sandfur too, but Turtlepaw is the worst.**

 **Don't have a QOTD today, I'm posting this really fast, I've got to rush right after this. See you next chapter!**


	33. Chapter 30: The Last Battle

**I know I didn't post last week. Don't worry, I didn't forget about you guys. It was just that I hadn't finished writing the chapter. But to make up for it, I'm posting two chapters today.**

 **Previously on TRotR…**

 ** _"_** ** _I'm so thankful you showed up to ShadowClan at the same time as us," Crowstar meowed. "Without you, we would not have been able to defeat Darkstar._**

 ** _"Well, our apprentices were captured too, so we had to go to ShadowClan," Sassafrasstar pointed out._**

 ** _"I've been thinking about something," Crowstar said. "Why don't we form an alliance so we can defeat Darkstar? He's going to be after both of our Clans now, so we should team up together and teach that fox-heart how to behave."_**

 ** _"I don't see why not," Sassafrasstar said. "That's an excellent idea, Crowstar."_**

 ** _Crowstar smiled. "See you around," he told her. Then he dipped his head and went off to join his Clan._**

 **Later…**

 ** _"_** ** _AARGH!" Flamepaw came flying into camp, with Carpflight right behind him. "We're under attack!" he yelled._**

 ** _"_** ** _What?" asked Badgerfoot. "Who?"_**

 ** _"_** ** _ShadowClan," Carpflight said. "We just saw them walking in the marshes. Darkstar just about brought his entire Clan here. So we'd better get ready for battle." Carpflight looked over at all of us, and added, "_** **Now** ** _."_**

* * *

CHAPTER 30: THE LAST BATTLE

Flamepaw's POV

The Clan wasted no time in getting ready; we had battle protocol drills like this all the time. Younger apprentices were supposed to help the elders and kits up the Lakeledge, which in our case were still me and my siblings. The warriors formed a defensive ring around the inside of the camp, while Bluemist and Whitepaw gathered enough medicine supplies to carry up the Lakeledge.

Once we were done helping everyone up, I rushed to join the battle down in camp. It was absolutely miserable. The ShadowClan cats were defeating us badly, and some RiverClan warriors were left fighting two warriors at a time.

 _How many cats are in ShadowClan?_ I thought in despair. Historically, ShadowClan has always been the Clan with the most cats, so it was no surprise they were massacring us. I looked around for someone whom I could help.

Clove was being attacked by Roseleaf and another ShadowClan tom. _Two warriors against one?_ I thought angrily. _That's not fair!_ I rushed to help her.

"Get away, you stupid rouge!" Roseleaf yelled at Clove, giving her a slash across the flank and pinning her down. "I can't believe Sassafrasstar let you in to her Clan!"

"Well, she's a filthy rouge herself, so I'm not too surprised," the ShadowClan tom sniggered.

That did it. I rushed at the tom and slapped him on the mouth. "Don't you insult my mom!" I yelled. "She's one of a kind! And she's way better than the likes of you!"

Sassafrasstar, who was nearby, gave me a look of surprise. I had to admit I was pretty surprised myself. Two moons ago, I had absolutely hated her. But now, I found I was beginning to develop a decent relationship with my mother. It just proved how strange life could turn out at times.

"And don't call Clove that!" I added, while Clove wrestled herself out from under Roseleaf, giving me a grateful look. "If she's a rouge, then she's the best one there ever was! She saved Whitepaw and Sweetsong from the Legion, and she's going to help us fight them! So don't you insult her."

"Nice speech," remarked Roseleaf, looking at the other tom. "Stormpelt, do you want to get him or should I?"

Stormpelt responded by slashing me across the face. Blood dripped down, and I was temporarily blinded in my left eye. He took advantage of that to shove me to the ground.

"Get off of him!" Sassafrasstar suddenly shouted, running up to us and knocking Stormpelt down. "You help Clove, Flamepaw. I'll deal with him." She turned to Stormpelt and bared her teeth.

I turned around and leapt towards Roseleaf, claws outstretched. But Roseleaf had already anticipated this move and stepped to the side, watching me crash on the ground. I was about to get up, but she pinned me down and bit my ear. I groaned in pain, my ear throbbing with pain as she held me down with my legs under me. But as she prepared to slash again, Clove knocked Roseleaf down and pinned her, raking her belly. Roseleaf let out a screech of pain. She went limp, and Clove looked satisfied, as if she'd finally defeated Roseleaf.

"Don't fall for it," I warned. "She's playing dead so she can surprise you with an attack." I learned about this move about a moon ago, in battle training. It was one of the easiest ways to win a battle. But it was also one of the most overdone battle moves ever, and the stupidest way to lose a fight.

Clove nodded, tightening her grip as I slashed Roseleaf across the ear, as revenge for what she'd done to me. "Go away and don't bother us again," I snarled. Roseleaf didn't need to be asked twice. She ran off to find Pinefur, blood dripping down her cheek and flanks.

"Are you sure you don't want to go to Bluemist?" Clove asked me. "That torn ear looks pretty nasty."

"I'm fine," I assured her. "It probably looks worse than it actually is."

"Flamepaw!" I suddenly heard a shout. I turned around to see Sassafrasstar. "I defeated Stormpelt," she explained. "He won't be coming back in a hurry. Listen, we need help. Darkstar has sent one of his warriors up the Lakeledge to guard Bluemist. Now Bluemist can't heal anyone."

"What?" I asked furiously. "That's not how we're supposed to fight! It's like cheating!"

"I know," said Sassafrasstar heavily, "which is why I need you for a very important task. I want you and Clove to go all the way to ThunderClan and get their help."

"But how will we get past the entrance?" I asked. "Darkstar has warriors guarding the camp exit so no cat can get in our out!"

"There's only one warrior on guard," Sassafrasstar answered. "If you go now, you won't have too much trouble." She nudged me with her nose. "Go!"

Clove and I ran towards the exit, where the ShadowClan warrior glared at us. "You're not going anywhere," he snapped, "so don't even think of it."

"We'll see about that," Clove answered. Suddenly, she leapt at him, claws outstretched, and knocked him to the group.

"Go, Flamepaw!" Clove hissed at me. "You have to go alone. Quickly, before another warrior comes!"

"But I can't"… I began.

"GO!" Clove yelled, dodging a blow he gave her to the flank. I sped out of the camp and made a quick right, towards WindClan territory.

Obviously going through ShadowClan territory was out of the question, so I had to cross through WindClan. And going through WindClan meant going past the horseplace.

I'd always been scared of the horseplace, but ever since I was attacked, it was even scarier. What if I found some more Legion cats lurking there? Would I have any cat to save me this time?

I cautiously crept past the horseplace, staying as far away from it as possible. When I finally passed it, I breathed a sigh of relief. Thank StarClan I didn't have to do encounter another Legion cat.

"Oh, hello."

I turned around in alarm to see a black tom creeping out from the horseplace. He had the distinct scent of the Legion cats.

Okay, maybe I spoke too soon.

"This is wonderful," the black tom murmured. "Looks like I have a captive to take back to the Legion with me."

I took a step back, unable to say anything. I was too frightened to attack and knew that if I ran, he'd be on me in an instant.

"Luke was angry, oh yessss verrry angry, when the four apprenticesss essscaped," the black tom said to himself. "He was even angrier when one of his sssspies stopped meeting with him. We still haven't found that traitorrr. He blamess me for it, of course, becaussse as his second-in-command, I ssshould have known better. But now," he directed his gaze at me, "I have a hostage. Oh yessss. A hossstage."

"You're not taking me anywhere," I managed to say.

"Oh rrrreally?" the tom purred. "I am indeed. We'll take you to the Legion and use you to convince the Clans to ssssurrrender. It's not like we really need you, since we have other prisssoners, but… as they say, the more, the merrrrier!"

"You little _fox_ ," I managed to say, glaring at the tom.

"Oh, currrrsssing won't help you, my frrriend," the tom said, taking a step forward. "I'm afrrraid you're coming with me, whether you want to or not."

I unsheathed my claws, not wanting to go down without a fight. At the same time, I knew there was no way I'd win by myself.

"Leave him alone!" I suddenly heard a shout. I turned around in surprise and saw two WindClan cats running up the hill to get to us. One was a fluffy black she-cat and the other was yellowy-gray. They barreled straight into the black tom.

"How lovely," the black tom laughed. "I have three hosssstages to take with me."

"Yeah, and it's three of us against one of you, dirt-face," the black she-cat snapped back. "How exactly do you plan to get around that?"

"Let's get him," the yellowy tom said, nodding to the she-cat. They both leapt at him with outstretched claws and surprising speed. The black tom tried to escape but couldn't. I slashed at the tom from behind and he yowled.

"No one defies Soot and getsss away with it," he snarled.

"Soot? Is _that_ your name?" the dark she-cat laughed. "You must have been a very ugly kit. Which mother licks a beautiful kitten and says, "I know! I'll name him after a pile of dirt!"

Soot tensed up, but I glared at him. "This is your warning," I said. "Go away. If you don't leave right now, we will kill you."

Soot laughed. "Bye for now," he sneered, then ran down the hill, faster than I thought a cat could run.

"Let's go after him," the black she-cat growled, raking her claws on the ground.

"No, Darkbird, we can't do that," the yellowy-gray tom answered. "He runs even faster than us."

Darkbird sniffed. "Maybe _you_ can't, Yellowstripe, but I bet I could."

 _Darkbird? Yellowstripe?_ I thought. "Wait, aren't you the two WindClan cats who escaped from the Legion with Whitepaw and Sweetsong?" I asked.

The two turned to me in surprise. "Why, yes we did," said Yellowstripe. "How are they doing? So did Sweetpaw get her name?"

"Yeah, she's Sweetsong now," I said. "What brings you guys here?"

"We were taking a walk," explained Yellowstripe. "Since we're not apprentices anymore, we're officially allowed to leave camp after dark."

"But it's not like anyone actually ever _followed_ that rule, so it really doesn't matter," interjected Darkbird, rolling her eyes.

I laughed, but then suddenly remembered what I was here for. "Sorry, but I really don't have time for talk now," I said. "I need to go to ThunderClan."

"What for?" asked Yellowstripe.

"ShadowClan's attacking us," I explained. "And we formed an alliance with ThunderClan, so I really have to get them. I've wasted so much time just standing here."

Darkbird and Yellowstripe looked at each other nervously. "Should we get Whitestar to help?" asked Darkbird.

Yellowstripe shook his head. "We can't do that," he said. "You know Whitestar. He doesn't like to interfere in other Clans' affairs." He turned back to me. "You'll have to go to ThunderClan. It's safer, since you already have an alliance."

I nodded. "But thanks for the help anyways," I added.

"Oh, you're welcome," answered Darkbird. "Good luck!"

I thanked them as I sped off into the night.

* * *

Eventually, I reached ThunderClan's territory. Astonishingly, I had managed to run the entire way from border to border, so I was panting as I crossed the stream dividing the two territories. I was forced to slow down to a walk as I headed towards the ThunderClan camp.

Where was it, anyways? I figured I'd better follow the scent line, because of course, the scent would be strongest closest to camp. It seemed to be making a distinct path north.

Soon, I'd reached a large hollow, expanding down below my paws. I had heard stories of ThunderClan's stone hollow and knew at once this must be their camp. I was about to figure out a way in when suddenly, I felt claws on my spine. Gasping in shock, I kicked my legs up instinctively and unsheathed my back claws.

"Intruder!" the cat hissed. "RiverClan intruder!"

It seemed like all of ThunderClan was waking up. I heard voices from the camp and looked up. Several warriors were coming up through a path, staring at me. Crowstar came up from the front of the line, glaring at me. "What do you want?"

"I" –

"Get off of him, Flamefoot," Crowstar ordered. My attacker immediately climbed off of me, though I could hear his grunt. Crowstar came over and placed his paw under my chin, forcing me to look up at him. "What in StarClan's name are you doing here? That's a long way to walk, all the way across the lake, just to try and stir up trouble."

"I wasn't!" I cried. "Don't you remember the alliance you made with my Clan? Well, we're in trouble, and we need your help!"

Crowstar froze for a moment and turned to look at his Clanmates. They became deathly silent.

"What trouble are you in?" Goldenear, the deputy of ThunderClan, spoke.

"ShadowClan has come to attack us," I responded urgently. "We're in trouble, because they're winning and we really weren't prepared for the attack – you have to help us!"

"Is he telling the truth?" a ThunderClan warrior spoke up, skeptically.

I glared at him. _I've got ShadowClan scent and a bunch of claw-marks on my fur! What more proof could you possibly want?_

A brown-and-white tabby she-cat stepped forward. "I recognize him, Crowstar. He was one of the cats who was imprisoned in the ShadowClan camp with Redclaw and me. I think he's speaking the truth."

Crowstar nodded. "Thank you, Squirrelstep. I will come to RiverClan and bring some of my warriors."

 _Squirrelpaw!_ I realized. I remember the scared-looking apprentice and her friend, Redpaw, well now Redclaw, who had been imprisoned with Sweetsong, Swanpaw, and me. They must have gotten their names!

"So what are we going to do?" asked a warrior, after Crowstar had finished calling out all the names. "Are we going to show ShadowClan what we're made of?"

"No," answered Crowstar. "I want to solve this peacefully. We're going to break up the fight. All of you are there for backup if Darkstar needs persuading. Got it?"

The ThunderClan warriors nodded.

"Then let's go," Crowstar said. "It's time to put an end to this – for once and for all."

* * *

Waterpaw's POV

We were officially screwed.

The ShadowClan cats were attacking the RiverClan cats mercilessly, and if it weren't for the fact that the warrior code was against killing, some might be dead already. _That_ was how bad it was.

 _How are we ever going to win this battle?_ I thought. _They've pretty much defeated us. I'm surprised Sassafrasstar hasn't surrendered already._

I climbed up the Lakeledge, looking for Bluemist. Suddenly, a ShadowClan she-cat blocked my way, refusing to let me up the ledge. "You're not going anywhere."

"Yes I am," I retorted. "I'm looking for Bluemist."

"Well you're not getting to him," she answered. "I'm not letting any RiverClan cat pass beyond this point."

I was furious. "You're not playing it fair," I snarled. "You're not supposed to block the enemy Clan from getting to their medicine cat. That's just cruel."

She laughed. "Nice one, apprentice. Now, go away."

"Make me," I retorted.

The she-cat reached over and smacked me on the chest. I stumbled back, a little surprised. Then I reared up and leapt straight at her, teeth bared. I bit her hard at her muzzle, causing it to bleed quite heavily.

I realized, with alarm, that we were very close to the edge. If one of us fell from the Lakeledge, we would, in the luckiest scenario, break a bone. "Stop!" I yelled.

"Why should I?" she snarled back. She started toward me but lost her footing and slipped on the edge. With horror, I realized she was going over!

"DON'T!" I screamed, grabbing onto her tail and desperately trying to pull her up. It was no use. I wasn't strong enough.

"I got you!" I felt myself being pulled back, and suddenly, I let go of the ShadowClan warrior and fell backwards, my head hitting the rock. For a second, I saw stars, but then Dappledflower's face came into view. "Just saved you," she said. Briarthorn had pulled the ShadowClan warrior away from the ledge and she stood there, dazed.

Suddenly we all heard a shout.

"STOP!"

Just like that, the camp came to a halt. Everyone stopped, mid-battle. Past the camp, I saw rows and rows of ThunderClan cats marching to our camp, with Flamepaw among the ranks. _He brought them to our camp!_ I realized. _Finally, we have reinforcements!_

The ShadowClan cats gaped at the ThunderClanners. They didn't know what to say. Crowstar walked into camp entrance and looked around. "This battle has been going on too long, said.

A thud was heard. Instinctively, I looked to see what made the noise. I saw Darkstar collapsed in a heap at the bottom of the Lakeledge, blood flowing down his pelt.

Bluemist lost no time. Nodding at Whitepaw and me to carry the medicinal supplies, he tore down the ledge and ran up to Darkstar. Mistfur, ShadowClan's new medicine cat, had also come to look.

"Why is the RiverClan medicine cat going to help our leader?" a ShadowClan warrior hissed.

"Quiet!" Mistfur barked at the offending warrior. "Bluemist is a medicine cat, and it's his duty to help any cat in any Clan. So let us do our job."

She bent over her leader, holding a cobweb in her mouth. She put it over the wound, but it got soaked in blood in about two seconds. Mistfur desperately looked up at Bluemist, and he shook his head.

"Darkstar is losing a life," he meowed.

The clearing was silent as Mistfur and Bluemist bent down to pick Darkstar up. "We can't carry him like this all the way home," Mistfur said.

"Yes, we can't," Bluemist agreed. "Don't worry. We'll find a way to get him home safely."

"Why can't they just let Darkstar walk home?" I whispered to Whitepaw. "Shouldn't he be able to wake up quickly?"

Whitepaw shook his head. "Darkstar's pretty old. The older the leader is, the longer it takes for them to wake up after losing a life."

Bluemist looked over at the surrounding ShadowClan, RiverClan, and ThunderClan warriors. "Will some cat please get us some long, sturdy sticks? Ones that won't break easily?"

There was a murmur of confusion, but they did as they were told. A few ShadowClan apprentices came up to the medicine cats with the sticks in their mouths.

"Thank you, Cedarpaw and Featherpaw," said Mistfur, arranging the sticks in a criss-cross pattern. The longest sticks were parallel to each other, and the other three sticks were perpendicular to those, and on top. Bluemist bound them with reed.

 _They're making a stretcher_ , I realized. Mistfur turned to Whitepaw and me. "Go and get some bracken and moss," she commanded.

We raced out to the elders' den, where there generally was always moss under the oak tree. I pulled some out, while Whitepaw went to get the bracken. We carried them to the medicine cats. In the meantime, Mistfur and Bluemist were washing Darkstar, trying to make his fur less bloodstained than before.

"Thank you," Bluemist said to us. "Whitepaw, can you go and help the injured cats?"

Whitepaw nodded and dashed off.

"I think you'd better go, too," Mistfur said to Bluemist.

"But don't you need help?" Bluemist protested.

"I'll be fine," Mistfur assured him. "They need your help more than I do."

"Yeah," Crowstar said to his medicine cat, Oakleaf. "You should go and help too."

"Now since that's settled," Larkflight said, "Why don't we attend to other important… matters."

"You mean how your Clan came in uninvited, basically destroyed my camp, badly wounded many of my warriors, all for StarClan-knows what reason?" Sassafrasstar asked through clenched teeth.

Larkflight shook her head. "Listen, I've had enough of this," she said. Now addressing her Clan, she added, "We're going home."

"What?" yelled Stormpelt.

"But we haven't had enough time to give RiverClan what they deserved!" Roseleaf added.

"I am in charge while Darkstar is… out," Larkflight answered coolly. "We are not fighting this battle any longer. The whole thing is wrong."

"But they killed Featherheart!" Roseleaf protested.

"How do we know that?" asked Larkflight, swiftly.

Sassafrasstar shifted uncomfortably. "Actually, Larkflight, one of my warriors _did_ kill Featherheart."

Larkflight stared at Sassafrasstar, aghast.

"He was also the Legion spy," she said quietly. "He's been banished from RiverClan for his betrayal and the murder of Featherheart. I'm sorry we didn't find out sooner."

There was a silence, followed by a shout. "So why don't we finish what we came here to do?" demanded Stormpelt. "I say let's just fight these RiverClan cats and show them what we're made of! Right now!"

"Yeah!" agreed several of the ShadowClan warriors. But Crowstar stopped it with a lash of his tail.

"SILENCE!"

Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared up at Crowstar. His face was contorted in rage and anger.

"You have all gone way too far!" Crowstar roared. "There will be NO MORE meaningless bloodshed tonight. ShadowClan, go back home and take your… leader with you." He cast Darkstar a look of disgust. "Larkflight is right. She is in charge until Darkstar recovers."

"Thank you," Larkflight said quietly. "Sassafrasstar, we will talk about this later." She turned towards the camp entrance, and her Clan followed. Mistfur and Bluemist lifted Darkstar onto the stretcher, and Mistfur and another ShadowClan warrior hoisted the stretcher onto their backs. It sat rather crookedly on top of them, but there were two warriors on either side of them, ready to adjust the stretcher if it went off-balance.

"We had better go too," Crowstar said, looking at Sassafrasstar.

"Thank you for coming tonight," Sassafrasstar said gratefully. "I really don't know what we would have done without you."

"I will see you in a few days, at the Gathering," he answered crisply, turning away. "Now, I must go. My warriors are extremely tired."

"So are we," said Sassafrasstar. "Do you mind if we keep Oakleaf here, to help with the injured?"

"Sure, he can stay," replied Crowstar. "Just make sure he gets back home tomorrow by sunhigh."

"Agreed," said Sassafrasstar, dipping her head to Crowstar.

Just as ThunderClan was turning to leave, there was a sudden rustle in the bushes. "What is that?" asked Whitepaw, eyeing the bush weirdly.

"What is what?" I asked.

"There's someone in the bush!" Whitepaw answered. There were a few gasps from the ThunderClan and RiverClan cats.

"Well, show yourself!" Crowstar yowled at the bush. "Or we'll make you!"

The bush started shaking even more, and something black came out. When it did, I saw a black tom pulling himself out of the bush and collapsing on the ground.

"Soot!" Flamepaw suddenly yelled. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I'm"… the black tom lost all defiance as he glared around.

"Do you know this cat?" Sassafrasstar asked him.

"Yes," replied Flamepaw. "He's the deputy of the Legion! He stopped me on the way to ThunderClan. He was going to capture me, but then I escaped, with the help of two WindClan cats."

Sassafrasstar shook her head. "We'll talk about this later." She addressed Soot.

"And what exactly are you doing here?"

"Well, if you want to know," Soot answered, "it was ssso easssssssy to sneak into this camp. Whilst all of you were fighting, I came in and ssssssssnuck into this bush. No one noticed me"…

"Well, we just did," Sassafrasstar answered. "And you're now officially a RiverClan prisoner. Congratulations."

"What?" demanded Soot.

"We don't let cats get away with spying on us – and attempting to harm our apprentices," Sassafrasstar added, looking at Flamepaw.

"Fine," Soot snapped. "But beforrrre you take me to the prisssssoners' den, you mussst know the status of your beloved deputy, Goldensssssun."

Sassafrasstar looked startled. "What about him?"

"We are taking action," Soot said dramatically. "If you do not agrrrree to surrender your territorrrry in four days, we will kill him. Oh yesssss we will."

"WHAT?" Sweetsong shrieked.

"You will do no such thing!" Silvermoon snarled.

"Luke will," purred Soot. "He sssssaid so himself. Now, bye frrrriendszz." He was about to turn around in an attempt to leave, but two warriors knocked him to the ground.

"You're not going anywhere," Sassafrasstar said firmly. "Brindlefire and Greennose, escort him to the prison. You will guard him through the night."

Both of them looked reluctant to be staying up through the night, but they did as they were told.

I watched them go, thinking that things couldn't get any worse. If we didn't rescue Goldensun in three days, he would die. And there was no possible way to rescue Goldensun.

* * *

 **Well, life just about sucks for Goldensun. Looks like the Clans are going to have to make a decision soon on what to do.**

 **Next chapter:**

 **\- Sassafrasstar tries to plan a meeting with the other four Clans. She sends Whitepaw on a patrol to send the message.**

 **\- Eaglekit and Waterkit try to go through the Nightmare Den to get to the living world.**


	34. Chapter 31: Reconstruction

**Previously on TRotR…**

 ** _"We know the Dark Forest is still out there," said Jayfeather. "And we have this… feeling that something will happen. And once it happens, nothing will ever be the same again."_**

 ** _"Which leads us to our next point," Dovewing continued. "You know the Clans are fighting because of the murder of a ShadowClan cat. On top of that, you have tension from the Legion. Add that to the Dark Forest troubles, and you have a whole avalanche of problems."_**

 ** _"What's an avalanche?"_**

 ** _Dovewing rolled her eyes. "Never mind. Anyways, the point is that you need to be stronger. They say strength in numbers is good. So in order to win this war, the Clans must join forces."_**

 ** _Lionblaze stepped forward. "It has been decreed in the stars. Our prophecy is this." He began to recite._**

 ** _"'_** ** _Thunder will turn the world into chaos. One who was once a friend will resort to darkness. The sky will fall, and the one who is lost and found at the same time will lead the way. The world you once knew will be changed drastically, never to be the same again.'"_**

 ** _I frowned, not understanding a word of what she said. Chaos? Lost and found? What was she talking about?_**

 ** _"Now listen," Hollyleaf said, "I want you to keep all the information about the Dark Forest, the prophecy, and the Great Battle confidential. Don't tell any cat, not even Bluemist."_**

 ** _"Why not?" I asked, staring._**

 ** _"Because the Clans don't need to worry about that right now," Jayfeather said, shortly. "They only need to know about the Legion alliance. That's what you need to be focusing on right now."_**

 ** _"But why are you giving me all this information if I can't tell anyone?" I protested. "What use is it to me then?"_**

 ** _The dream blurred, but just as it faded away completely, I heard Lionblaze say, "You will tell when the time is right."_**

* * *

CHAPTER 31: RECONSTRUCTION

Eaglekit's POV

"I cannot believe this isn't working," Waterkit growled.

We had spent the entire night trying to get through the Destiny Den, with no avail. The first time, we tried to look for a portal, but we couldn't find it. The second time, I figured that we would have to use our powers to get to the living world. But when we tried, thunder boomed in our ears, so loudly that we had to run out. The third time, lightning struck a spot very close to Waterkit and almost hit her.

"Fourth time's the charm," I suggested timidly. Waterkit glared at me.

"You said that last time," she huffed.

 _How did Sandfur and the others get through?_ I thought. They obviously went through using their powers, but Featherheart was the only one of them who had powers. Would she have been able to transport them?

Then it hit me. It was so obvious what we had to do! "Waterkit, I think I'm the only one who can get us through," I said.

"How?" she asked.

"I gave the den my power," I said confidently. "So that means it should work for me."

"That makes sense," agreed Waterkit. "Let's try it." She walked into the den. I followed her, thinking she was pretty brave to do this for me when lightning had almost singed her fur.

We both got into the pool in the middle of the den. The water felt stale and dirty, unlike the clean water back in the Dream Den. I fidgeted and closed my eyes.

 _Please, please,_ please _let this work_ , I prayed. I concentrated on getting us through the Destiny Den to the living world.

A second later, the ground suddenly rumbled and water began violently splashing around. Waterkit and I screamed as we were pulled into a whirlpool and then down a tiny chute. We almost got stuck in it. Thankfully, we were just small enough to go down, but it was still very uncomfortable. I looked up at Waterkit, and her expression was murderous. She had an _if we get out of here alive I'll kill you_ look on her face. I gulped and looked away.

Suddenly, we reached the end of the chute and my ears exploded with pain. We were free-falling in the sky, plummeting towards the forest with no way of escape. I tried to fly, but realized we didn't have that power anymore.

WHAM! We slammed straight into a bush. I groaned, tilting my head back and feeling immense pain in my legs. Had I broken anything?

Suddenly, the pain just dulled away, as immediately as it'd come. I gasped in surprise, managing to pull myself to my feet and crawl out of the bush. How had this happened? How had it been that I'd felt so much pain the minute before, and then just none?

Then I remembered Waterkit.

"Waterkit?" I called, "where are you?" I looked into the bush and saw Waterkit lying on the ground, her legs splayed out behind her. "Waterkit? Waterkit!"

"I'm fine," she groaned, attempting to get up, but only hitting her head on a branch. She groaned.

Since she was further inside the bush than me, I had to help her out. Strangely enough, her legs were fine also. We were confused by this bizarre situation.

"What I don't understand is," Waterkit muttered, "how did we fall through such a tiny chute? Surely the others didn't go that way. We should have gone through the pool and made a clean entrance through the other side." She pointed to a small pond nearby us. "We should have come out there."

"We probably went through the drainage chute," I said. "The actual exit must have been sealed up, because the Dark Forest cats wouldn't have wanted anyone to follow them. They couldn't have closed up the drainage chute, because it's needed for air to circulate through the Destiny Den."

"How do you know all this?" asked Waterkit, surprised.

I shrugged. "Well, this is a mirror copy of the Dream Den," I said. "There they have a drainage chute, too. I figured out the rest."

"That makes sense," she agreed. "But where is the drainage chute?" She looked up at the sky. Ideally, it should have been right over our heads, since we just came down that way. But neither of us could see anything.

"It must be invisible to living cats," I thought aloud. Then I grinned. "You know what that means, right?" I asked.

"What?" asked Waterkit.

"We're alive again!" I danced around. I'd only realized this now, but my limbs felt solid again, and my fur was longer than before.

"Yay!" Waterkit cheered. The sound of our laughter hit the tree as we joyfully danced around, glad that at least one part of our plan had gone as expected.

Then Waterkit suddenly stopped. "Look out," she whispered. "I sense the Dark Forest cats' presence."

I looked over, and froze. I detected their scent too. I was about to run, but Waterkit stopped me.

"They're not here now. But they'll be coming soon, so we'd better leave before they come back."

"Where will we go?" I asked.

"We're going to find a place on the other side of the lake," she said. "We need to get as far away from these cats as possible. Except we can't cross through Clan territory. StarClan will catch us then."

"Won't the Dark Forest cats be able to tell we were here?" I asked.

"No they won't," she assured me. "Since we were in the Dark Forest so long, all the StarClan scent will be gone from us. They'll just think it's their own scent. And it'll get washed away in the next rain anyways."

We started to walk south, around the lake and towards a new mission. Our plan was in motion.

* * *

 _The next day, at sunhigh_

Whitepaw's POV

I was busy sorting out herbs when I heard someone walk in.

"Whitepaw?" Bluemist called.

"We're low on moss," I replied without bothering to turn around. "I can get some if that's what you want."

"No, it's not about that," Bluemist answered, coming up to me. "It's about your dream the other day."

"I thought an alliance wasn't possible," I said dully.

"That's what I thought, too," Bluemist said. "But after the battle yesterday, when so many cats were injured, I realized you were right. I'm sorry I didn't listen to you."

This time, I turned around to face Bluemist. He looked apologetic, making me feel guilty of how I had gone out of my way to avoid Bluemist this entire time.

"Sorry I ignored you," I said rather awkwardly.

"It's all right." Bluemist nodded understandingly. "Sassafrasstar has called you and me to speak at a meeting with her senior warriors. It's held in the elders' den." I followed him out of the medicine den.

Frostheart, Lightsky, and Snakescale were already in there. In addition to the senior warriors, there was Badgerfoot, our temporary deputy, and Frostypool and Fernstripe, the elders.

"Welcome," Sassafrasstar said to us. "Whitepaw, we need you to tell us about your vision."

I gulped, feeling a bit nervous in front of all these cats. I looked up at Bluemist.

"Go on," he said encouragingly.

"Well, four cats came to me in a dream," I said. "They said we need an alliance with the other Clans in order to defeat Luke."

"Is that all?" Sassafrasstar asked.

I thought of how Hollyleaf warned me about big changes coming ahead, and the Dark Forest rebellion. I couldn't mention this, though; I'd been warned not to tell anyone. So I shook my head.

"What do you think we should do to solve this issue?" Sassafrasstar asked, addressing her warriors and elders.

"I think we should call a meeting with all the Clans," said Badgerfoot. "We should tell them about Soot's threat to Goldensun, and ask them to ally with us."

"Why can't we do it at the Gathering?" asked Frostheart. "It's only a few days from now."

Badgerfoot shook his head impatiently. "A lot can happen in a few days. Since we're weakened from the battle, and captured the Legion's second-in-command, they'll attack any moment now. Besides, it should be a meeting just for the leaders, deputies, and medicine cats."

"That's a good idea," agreed Snakescale, "except for one thing. How do you plan on convincing ShadowClan to join us?"

Badgerfoot growled; he clearly hadn't thought of that. Then Frostypool spoke.

"Don't be a ninny," she scolded Snakescale. "Darkstar just lost a life. Judging by how old he is, and how incompetent, he's probably not going to assume his responsibilities for another day. You can tell Larkflight about the alliance. She seems reasonable."

"Who's to say she'll want to join us?" Frostheart pointed out. "She probably hates us as much as Darkstar, especially since she found out that one of us really _did_ kill Featherheart."

"Hareflight is not one of us, and can never be anymore," Frostypool answered, swiftly.

"Don't say that," I gasped. "Hareflight's my friend! It isn't his fault he was forced into servitude by the Legion."

Frostypool snorted. "Back in my day, we followed something called the warrior code," she answered crankily. "The warrior code dictates that you should serve your Clan, even at the cost of your life. If someone broke the code like that when I was an apprentice, he'd probably be killed by his own Clanmates."

"Enough!" Sassafrasstar interrupted. "We are not debating this. Listen," she said to Snakescale, "I want you to lead a patrol with Swampnose, Whitepaw, Brightleaf, and Volewhisker. You're going around the lake to convince the other Clans of a meeting. It will be held tonight."

"Okay," said Snakescale.

"And Whitepaw, you will be present at tonight's meeting," added Sassafrasstar. "You'll speak about being a Legion prisoner and convince the leaders to fight against them. I want you to speak about your vision. Swampnose will also be there, since he's one of the ex-ShadowClan cats."

"Okay," I agreed. _Speak at a meeting? Wow!_ I knew medicine cats were important, but not this important. Maybe I'd be able to speak at meetings like this more often, when I became a full medicine cat?

"Ready to go?" asked Snakescale. I nodded.

We met Swampnose and Spottedsky at the camp entrance and told them of the patrol. With Snakescale leading the way, the four of us went out into the territory and toward WindClan's borders. On the way, we started talking about the things that had happened in the past moon.

"I wish Turtlepaw weren't exiled," sighed Swampnose.

I looked up at him. "You aren't upset at what she did?" I asked.

"I don't know what to think," he answered. "I know Waterpaw still misses her, even after what she's done. I'm not angry with her, like many of your Clanmates are. I'm just… disappointed. She's such a smart apprentice, and could have had a bright future. But she threw it all away just for unnecessary revenge. The only thing I feel for her is pity.

"Although, on a brighter note, I do believe Smokepelt and Rabbittail are doing fine in ThunderClan," Swampnose continued, after a pause. "Rainstorm would have come with us, too, but he has kits back in ShadowClan and didn't want to abandon them."

"Who are they?" I asked.

"His mate is Gingerspike," answered Swampnose. "His kits are Foxpaw, Featherpaw, and Cedarpaw. Remember them at the battle yesterday? They were the ones who were helping to take care of Darkstar.

"The stretcher Bluemist made yesterday was very good," he added, after a pause.

"They're called Grayshade stretchers," I told him.

"Really?" he arched his whiskers in surprise. "Why?"

"Well, a cat named Grayshade invented them," I answered. "She was the WindClan medicine cat before Mapleleaf. Bluemist told me all this, when he taught me how to make them."

"We're here," interrupted Snakescale, drawing to a halt at the border. We waited for a border patrol to come. When they did, we told them why we were here and they took us to WindClan camp.

Whitestar agreed he would show up at the meeting. Crowstar also agreed, and wished us well on getting ShadowClan come to the meeting. They would be the hardest to convince.

We waited by the ThunderClan-ShadowClan border, not wanting to risk going over their territory, even on the lakeside. Soon, a patrol showed up.

"What are you doing here?" demanded Roseleaf. She unsheathed her claws, ready to attack.

"They've got a medicine cat with them, which means they come in peace," said Larkflight, who was leading the patrol. "Sheathe your claws, Roseleaf. There will be no fighting today."

All of the cats in the patrol looked tired and weakened; the battle yesterday had clearly taken a toll on them. Larkflight glanced at us.

"What do you want?" she asked, rather coolly.

Snakescale stepped forwards. "Greetings, Larkflight," he said. "We're here to invite you to a meeting tonight at the island. All the other Clans have agreed to it."

"Tonight?" asked Larkflight. "At such a short notice? What's the matter?"

"We need to discuss some… problems with the Legion," said Snakescale. "We only want leaders, deputies, and medicine cats from each of the Clans present."

"Why should I come?" asked Larkflight stiffly. "Your Clan took one of Darkstar's lives, and you injured my Clanmates. And you killed Featherheart and Crowtalon. You should think twice before strolling into my territory and asking for favors."

Snakescale shifted uncomfortably. "Sassafrasstar promises that at the meeting, she will disclose the full story behind Featherheart's death," he said.

Larkflight narrowed her eyes. "She'd better tell us what happened," she said. "Very well then. I will see you tonight at the Gathering island." She and her warriors left.

We all looked at each another.

"Did she just agree to come to the meeting?" Volewhisker asked. "I wasn't imagining that, right?"

"Of course not, mouse-brain," scolded Brightleaf, lightly cuffing him on the ear.

"Yes!" grinned Volewhisker, dancing around but careful to keep his voice low. "We convinced them!"

"Sure, we convinced them to come to the meeting," Snakescale said darkly. "But whether they agree to the alliance or not is a different matter."

 _They have to_ , I thought. _They just have to._ If they didn't, the Clans as we knew it were doomed.

"Let's hope Darkstar doesn't wake up for another few days," I muttered to myself as we made the journey back home.

* * *

 **So the battle with RiverClan and ShadowClan finally comes to a halt. Next chapter is actually going to be a special chapter, meaning there is no specific POV (it's in third person).**

 **Next chapter:**

 **\- The Clans all meet at the island.**

 **\- Sassafrasstar explains the truth about Featherheart's death (it doesn't end too well).**

 **\- RiverClan and ShadowClan finally make peace.**

 **QOTD:** **What are you guys doing for Christmas?**


	35. Special Chapter: The Leaders' Meeting

**Hey, guys. Merry Christmas! And to those of you who don't celebrate Christmas, Happy Hanukah! And Happy Kwanzaa! And Feliz Navidad! No wait, I already said that XD.**

 **Also, before I forget, this entire week I'm going to be posting intensively. I'm going to post one chapter every day, and according to my calculations, this should be done by the New Year. (At least, I think. My family might be going off somewhere for three days, so we have to plan accordingly). So just stay tuned this week!**

* * *

 **~Special Chapter: _The Leaders' Meeting_ ~**

"I can't believe you get to go to the meeting," Sweetsong said, excitedly.

"Neither do I," Whitepaw answered. He was excited to go, but also a bit nervous. What if Darkstar didn't agree to the alliance? What if the other Clans also didn't agree? What would they do then?

"Don't be scared," Sweetsong said, reading his thoughts. "You were brave when Darkbird got trapped in the fire. You can be brave now."

Whitepaw smiled. "You're a good friend, Sweetsong," he said. "One of the best friends a medicine cat could ask for."

"Tell me everything when you get back," she continued. "I want to hear their plans to annihilate Luke and get my father back."

"Let's go!" Sassafrasstar called. She and Badgerfoot took up the front. Whitepaw followed the group, wondering what was in store for them that night.

* * *

They were the last Clan to arrive. As promised, every leader brought his or her deputy and medicine cat. The medicine cats present were: Bluemist of RiverClan, Mapleleaf of WindClan, Mistfur of ShadowClan, and Oakleaf of ThunderClan. Medicine apprentices were not invited, but Whitepaw was an exception to this rule. Smokepelt and Rabbittail from ThunderClan were also there.

"How dare traitors from my Clan show up," Darkstar suddenly growled, glaring at Swampnose, Rabbittail, and Smokepelt. "What do you have to say for yourselves?"

 _Oh shoot, he's here?_ Whitepaw thought dismally. He had expected Darkstar to be out for longer than this. This was going to make their job that night even harder.

Smokepelt stepped forwards. "We know we shouldn't have betrayed you," he said bravely. "But we are willing to make amends. We will come back and join you, provided you make peace with RiverClan and ThunderClan tonight."

Darkstar laughed. "Oh, I don't think so."

"That's quite enough," Sassafrasstar interrupted. "Everyone, go to your regular Gathering locations."

"This isn't a formal Gathering, Sassafrasstar," Whitestar said mildly. "Do we really need to?"

Darkstar cut Sassafrasstar off before she could answer. "I think it's better we stay near our respective trees, so we don't come into contact with one another. There are some cats I feel inclined to rip out the throats of, he growled, casting Sassafrasstar a devious glance.

Whitepaw and Bluemist cast each other nervous glances. It was only the beginning of the meeting, and already they could see this didn't exactly look promising.

"Don't threaten Sassafrasstar," growled Crowstar. "It's _you_ whose throat should be ripped out" –

"Crowstar!" shrieked Goldenear, his deputy.

"Well, I'm sorry for telling it how it is!" Crowstar snapped. "That menace to Clan society should be wiped out so he can't harm any of us in the future"…

"Stop fighting!" Larkflight yelled. "Everyone BE QUIET!"

The clearing became silent.

"We're here to settle a ShadowClan-RiverClan dispute. Sassafrasstar, will you please explain to me and Darkstar who killed Featherheart?"

"It was one of my warriors, Hareflight," explained Sassafrasstar, somberly. "He and Featherheart were both spies for the Legion" –

"My daughter, a _spy_?" asked Darkstar, outraged. "How dare you! I've never heard such a disgraceful statement in my life" –

"Be _quiet_ , Darkstar," Larkflight pleaded. "At least hear her out before you make any decisions."

"Thank you, Larkflight," Sassafrasstar nodded at the ShadowClan deputy. "As I was saying, Featherheart was going to kill Hareflight, because she didn't think he was a good spy. But Hareflight killed her instead, and placed her body on the ShadowClan border, to start a war between ShadowClan and RiverClan."

"So, did you punish him?" asked Larkflight.

"Yes," answered Sassafrasstar. "I sent him to live with Talon, a friendly loner near our borders. He is Clove's brother." She nodded at Clove. "I will decide what to do with him after we defeat the Legion."

"Seriously?" snorted Darkstar. "What kind of a punishment is that? If you ask me, you should have killed him! A murderer deserves death!"

"No!"

The shout came from Whitepaw, who looked agonized.

"You're wrong," Whitepaw said firmly. "Hareflight did do all that, but only because he was forced to. We're not blaming Featherheart either – she was forced to join the Legion, too. If you want some cat to blame, blame Turtlepaw!

"Turtlepaw?" asked Larkflight, shocked. "What does _she_ have to do with this?"

Whitepaw hadn't meant for Turtlepaw's name to slip out. He blinked, a little startled.

"Is she alright?" Larkflight pressed on. "She's not hurt in any way, is she?"

"Shut up!" Darkstar yelled at Larkflight. "Turtlepaw," he said, "was sent to RiverClan to spy on you."

"You mean she was a spy?" gasped Larkflight. "And you didn't tell me this before?" She glared at Darkstar. "I'm your deputy! You should have at least consulted with me before making these decisions!"

"I said, shut up," snapped Darkstar. "She hasn't reported back to me in a few days. I don't know where she went."

"That's because we kicked her out," Badgerfoot said, bluntly.

"You _what_?" screeched Darkstar, while Larkflight demanded, "On what charges?"

"Well for starters, we found out that she was a spy," Sassafrasstar answered. "Also, she attempted to kill Sweetsong."

"My apprentice did that?" whispered Larkflight, staring at the ground. "I must have been a horrible mentor."

"It's not your fault, Larkflight," Sassafrasstar said reassuringly. "We thought she would return back to ShadowClan as soon as we sent her off, but it seems she didn't."

"I always knew she was disloyal," Darkstar growled.

"Okay," Sassafrasstar continued, "now that we've settled the dispute with ShadowClan, let's go on" –

"Hang on," Darkstar interrupted. "Who says it's settled? _I_ certainly don't."

"This meeting isn't about you and your mental problems, Darkstar," Badgerfoot snapped, finally losing his temper. "It's about a certain threat which concerns _all_ the Clans."

"Yes," agreed Sassafrasstar. "It's the Legion. I want to defeat them and make sure they never come back. Therefore, Crowstar and I have agreed to an alliance, and we invite all the Clans to join."

"Hang on," Darkstar snarled. "After everything you've just told me, do you really expect my Clan to join yours? You're missing an obvious fact: You didn't create an alliance with Crowstar to stop the Legion. You joined with him to fight my Clan."

"Well, we did," Sassafrasstar began, "but" –

"Obvious fact number _two_ ," Darkstar continued, growing angrier and angrier by the second, "I don't know how you have the nerve to act like such a perfect Clan leader. After the battle yesterday, you're just going around saying, 'Oh look, I'm such a little angel! I'm so sorry I _completely_ screwed up at life, but let's all just be best friends and everything will be okay!'"

"That's not what I said" –

"Obvious fact number THREE," Darkstar was practically yelling now. "You just want to be the leader of all the Clans. The only reason why you started this alliance is because you want to lead it!"

"How dare you," Sassafrasstar was shaking with rage. "I have never done any of those things. You shouldn't talk about 'perfect leaders' and all, because you're not exactly perfect yourself"…

"You know what, Sassafrasstar," Darkstar barked, completely losing it, "just shut up."

"What?" asked Sassafrasstar, looking insulted.

"I said, shut up," repeated Darkstar **(a/n: I think someone should have told her this a long time ago XD** ).

Whitestar quickly intervened. "Sassafrasstar doesn't have to be the leader of the alliance," he said. "It can be some cat we all agree with."

"I agree," Sassafrasstar was quick to say.

"But I haven't agreed to the alliance yet," Darkstar said. "And neither has my friend Whitestar."

Whitestar looked at him in surprise. "I'm not your friend," he said bluntly.

"Yes you are," Darkstar said, a wide, infuriating smile on his face. "You and I both oppose the alliance."

"No I don't," said Whitestar.

"But you should," Darkstar answered, the smile being replaced by a whiny look. "They're only going to boss us around."

At this point, Whitepaw finally had enough. _I've got to do something, he thought. If I don't, the Clans will keep tearing each other apart!_

"Cats of the Clans," he shouted. The sound of his voice was much louder than he thought it would be. _Oh my StarClan what am I doing?_ he thought, terrified. _No, I'm doing the right thing. If I don't, there won't be any alliance._

"A few days ago, I had a vision," he said. "A StarClan cat came and told me that if we don't join together, the Clans will fall apart. The Legion will come in and destroy us.

"The only reason why we had this ShadowClan-RiverClan war in the first place," Whitepaw continued, "is because the Legion baited us into it. They forced Hareflight to leave Featherheart's body on the border, just so that we would start a war. Now that both of us are severely weakened, they attack very soon."

"So you mean the whole war was a hoax?" gasped Sunstreak, the WindClan deputy. "None of this should have happened?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I mean," said Whitepaw. "We should never have fought. Luke did this on purpose, just to get us to distrust each other.

"Being captured by the Legion wasn't exactly fun," he continued. "They trap you in a tiny space day and night, with barely any food to get by. Is this the future you want for your kits? They'll probably trap us like that, even if we willingly surrender."

Bluemist continued from where Whitepaw left off. "My brother Goldensun was captured," he said. "Yesterday, after the battle, a Legion cat snuck into our camp to make an announcement: if we don't give up our territory in three days, Goldensun will die."

Sunstreak frowned. "I don't think it's just Goldensun's life at stake," she said. "A few days after Darkbird and Yellowstripe came back to the Clans, a warrior of WindClan, Swiftrunner, and his apprentice, Runningpaw, went missing. They were definitely captured by the Legion."

"So they'll be killed, too," said Sassafrasstar, sounding shocked. "Is this their way of getting us to give up land? Well, they're wrong! We're not going to give up. We're going to fight!"

"Agreed!" Whitestar and Crowstar shouted in unison.

Then all eyes turned to Darkstar.

"Um, well"… Darkstar glared at the ground. "Oh, fine. ShadowClan will join the alliance."

For a moment, it was silent, but then all of the other cats started cheering. It was as if a huge weight had been lifted off of every cat's shoulders. Whitepaw was delighted; they had finally been able to convince ShadowClan to join them.

"We should meet again tomorrow," said Crowstar, "at sunhigh. Tomorrow, we need practically every cat in every Clan. We're all going to decide on a leader and battle strategies. Smokepelt, Swampnose, and Rabbittail, you may go back to ShadowClan."

Darkstar was about to huff in protest, but Larkflight gave him a look. Sighing, he turned around and slunk into the trees.

Whitepaw watched as the cats around him began to walk over the tree-bridge. He was glad that the alliance was now secure; it was something they all agreed on.

He just had to hope it would help.

* * *

 **It's Christmas morning right now for me. I'm honestly a bit relieved that it approached so fast this year, so that we can get all of the holiday craziness behind us. There are some things I absolutely hate about Christmas. No, don't get me wrong, I like the holiday, but some things just drive me nuts. For example, the music. Oh my StarClan. It's not that I hate the music, but just the fact that they repeat the same songs _every single day_ and _every single year_. And Christmas in general is one of those extremely commercialized holidays, which is annoying.**

 **The kind of sad thing, though, is that we didn't get that long of a break. Last two years we have, but this year it's just two weeks. I think my school is just about the only school in my area to not get last week (12/19/16-12/23/16) off. Our winter break just started. And we're probably the only school in the country that has to go back to school on January 2nd. Kind of sucks.**

 **Next chapter:**

 **\- The Clans hold another meeting to decide on their plans.**

 **\- Flamepaw and Sweetsong have another argument about Hareflight.**

 **AOTD:** **Like I said, I'm probably going off somewhere for three days. But I don't know where yet and no plans have been finalized. We're really just going to play it by ear.**

 **QOTD:** **What did you get for Christmas?**


	36. Chapter 32: Preparing for Battle

**I know I promised to update every day this week, and I didn't. I feel bad about that, but I went away on a trip for the last few days. And before that, I had a lot of stuff to do with home, family, and of course, preparing for midterms. I'll update today and tomorrow, and then figure out when to post the next chapters.**

 **Recap:**

 ** _Flamepaw glared at all of us. "Hareflight's a traitor. He betrayed his Clan! And if you think even for a second he's done anything to redeem himself, then" –_**

 ** _"Is that what you really think?"_**

 ** _Swanpaw immediately turned around to see who it was. Sweetsong was standing behind them, staring at Flamepaw with a sickened look on her face._**

 ** _"I can't believe I wanted to be friends with you," she whispered. "You're just an arrogant, selfish tom, Flamepaw. You're too busy thinking about your own problems to understand. Hareflight's suffered through a lot. Probably more than anything the rest of us have been through."_**

 ** _Flamepaw flattened his ears. "I'm sorry, Sweetsong," he said. "But just because he's your brother doesn't mean he gets a clean slate. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm due for a hunting patrol." He stalked off, not bothering to look back._**

* * *

CHAPTER 32: PREPARING FOR BATTLE

 _The next day, at sunhigh_

Eaglekit's POV

"Waterkit, what do you think of this den?"

The two of us were exploring, looking for a den. We were east of the WindClan border, which seemed to worry Waterkit. "We're getting too close to the Moonpool," she said. "Any StarClan cat would be able to spot us. We cannot go any farther.

 _Looks like we have to hide from even StarClan_ , I thought, dejected. _The very cats who were supposed to be our saviors were now our enemies._

"Why not here, then?" I pointed at the den. "It's small and cozy enough for us to stay in."

"Sure," she said. "I'll go get moss, and you can hunt."

"Okay." I left the den. Hunting was very difficult for us. The StarClan prey didn't run so fast and it was much easier to catch. I had also never been taught to hunt when I was alive, seeing that I was a kit and all.

 _Thanks for sticking me with the harder job, Waterkit_ , I thought grumpily, sitting by a stream. At least fishing wouldn't be so hard. They weren't very fast and could never see you coming.

Luckily for me, I managed to get a carp, though it was difficult to pull it out of the water. When I finally did, I felt exhausted. I managed to carry the carp with me to the den.

Waterkit was also collapsed on the moss. "I'm so tired," she yawned. "We walked for so long, and just carrying that moss is making me"… She put her head down.

"It's probably a side-effect of us going through the Destiny Den," I said. "Here, take some carp. Be glad you didn't have to carry it all the way from the stream."

We ate in silence.

* * *

Flamepaw's POV

This was my first time ever going to the Gathering island by daylight. The sun was bright on my face, which was enough to make any cat growl. I didn't know why we had to have this meeting.

I saw Sweetsong up ahead of me. She glanced briefly at me, and then looked ahead. From what I could see, she still hadn't forgiven me for insulting her brother. Well, what was I supposed to do? I couldn't let everyone just blatantly ignore the fact that Hareflight was responsible for the death of my _brother_! If Sweetsong could hate Turtlepaw for her attempt on Hareflight's life, then I could hate Hareflight for what happened to Eaglekit.

"All cats go to your regular Gathering spots!" Crowstar yelled. I went with my Clanmates to the willow tree.

To my surprise, when I looked up at the pine tree, I saw Darkstar wasn't standing on it. Instead, Larkflight was standing on the top, with Darkstar nowhere to be seen.

There were other murmurs at this, but Larkflight spoke. "Darkstar has a small cold," she said. "It's not a big problem, and he'll be fine by tomorrow, but he just needs to rest today. I have taken his place."

"Yeah, right," Swanpaw sneered beside me, though made sure to keep her voice low. "He's probably still crying his eyes out about Featherheart's death, boo hoo hoo."

"First off," said Whitestar, taking charge, "we need to decide on a leader. All adult cats, which include warriors, deputies, medicine cats, and elders, get a vote. Leaders don't get a vote because we are the ones running to be elected. You can vote for one of the four leaders to lead the alliance, but you can only vote once."

 _What?_ I thought. _We don't get a vote? That's not fair!_ But Whitestar wasn't done speaking yet.

"Apprentices, we will need your help to gather pebbles for the votes. Every warrior on this island gets a pebble. Any warrior below the age of twenty-four moons must go and help them, because this will take a while."

 _This is so stupid_ , I thought grumpily as I followed the other apprentices, nosing around for pebbles. We couldn't get a vote, and yet we were still expected to search for pebbles?

"As much as this sucks, be glad you're not a kit," Whitepaw advised me. "They had to stay in camp."

"Thanks a lot," I said sarcastically.

"This is so unfair," Swanpaw grumbled. "Why can't we vote, too? We're adult enough! And there are barely any apprentices here, how can they expect us to look for pebbles all by ourselves?"

"We're not searching by ourselves," Whitepaw pointed out. "He sent the younger warriors to help us."

"Oh, who cares?" snapped Waterpaw. "Let's just search for pebbles."

Whitepaw, Swanpaw, and I exchanged a look. Ever since Turtlepaw left, Waterpaw's mood has become progressively worse and worse. He won't talk to anyone at all, especially since we found out Turtlepaw's not coming back. He seems really depressed, mainly because of how she tried to kill Sweetsong. Though I think he's finally come to grips with it.

Fortunately, the pebble-collecting didn't take too long, since we had some warriors to help us. We brought them back to the island and gave each warrior one.

"Thank you," Crowstar said, when all the pebbles had been distributed. "If you're voting for me, place your pebble near the oak; if you're voting for Sassafrasstar, place your pebble near the willow tree; and so on."

As the cats moved around, we apprentices began to talk. "I wonder who Sweetsong is voting for," Whitepaw said.

"For Sassafrasstar, of course," said Sweetsong, coming back to join us. "She's the best leader."

"Everyone's going to say that about their own Clans," Whitepaw pointed out.

"Yeah," agreed Swanpaw, "except ShadowClan." She laughed. "It would be sad if any cat voted for Darkstar."

Swanpaw, Whitepaw, and Waterpaw left, clearly with the intent of speaking with the other apprentices. This left me and Sweetsong behind, standing rather awkwardly together.

"Hi," she said, rather quietly.

"Look," I began, but she cut me off.

"I thought we could be _friends_!" she said in a rush. "I mean, you and I went to ShadowClan together. How can you" –

"We didn't do that much together," I interrupted. "Where would you get that idea from? You and Whitepaw have a much closer bond, because both of you were captured for such a long time. Us, we were barely together for a day."

Sweetsong growled, but she didn't have much to say after that. I just snorted.

"What is with you she-cats and friendships?" I sneered. "'Oh look, let's all be best buddies and get along.' Why do you need a friend ever? It's so much better to just be alone! I don't need anyone! And least of all someone who defends a traitor!"

"He's my brother!" Sweetsong screamed.

"He's still a" – I began, but someone cut me off.

"Stop your bellyaching, apprentices! Some of us are trying to vote here."

The voice came from Frostypool, one of the elders. She glared at us for a moment before walking away. Sweetsong huffed, clearly indignant at being called an apprentice; she cast me one withering look before storming off. I sighed and sat down on my paws.

"Every cat has cast their votes!" shouted Crowstar. "We will count the votes now." He leapt down from the oak tree and looked at his pile of pebbles. The other Clan leaders did the same.

The deputies were in charge of announcing their leaders' votes. They stood on top of their Clan's tree, ready to speak. When the leaders were done telling deputies the amount of votes, the deputies would speak. Larkflight went first.

"For Darkstar, there are… ten votes!" Larkflight announced. There was laughter from all the cats.

"Ten votes?" whispered Swanpaw. "That's not going to get him anywhere!"

Goldenear took the stand. "For Crowstar there are… forty votes!" she announced.

The laughter stopped. Forty votes was a lot. But they weren't done announcing.

"For Sassafrasstar," called Badgerfoot, "there are forty-five votes!"

"She's not going to be alliance leader," said Sweetsong, looking disappointed. "It's still not enough."

"And lastly, for Whitestar," said Sunstreak, "there are… sixty-five votes!"

The effect was instantaneous. The Clan cats started yelling, "WHITESTAR! WHITESTAR!" at the top of their lungs. Whitestar looked out at everyone and smiled.

"Greetings," he said. "I am happy to be leading the alliance. I may be old, but I will lead us to defeat the Legion."

The Clan cats cheered. Whitestar was a popular choice. He dealt with things fairly and tried to stay as peaceful as possible, which was why even cats from other Clans admired him. As the oldest leader of the Clans, he was also very wise. He had also fought with the RainClan alliance against FlowerClan, and rebuilt WindClan to glory after the fall of Flowerstar.

"To prepare for battle, I say we must strike tomorrow," said Whitestar. "We're going to have to do intensive training all day."

"Why tomorrow?" asked a ThunderClan warrior.

"If we wait any longer, we are putting the lives of our imprisoned Clan cats at risk," explained Whitestar. "They claim they will kill them two days from now. But we can't go today, either. We're not done planning yet."

"I have a suggestion," said Sassafrasstar. "I think we should make stretchers for the battle, so we can carry the wounded off the field."

"Sounds good," agreed Whitestar. "I don't know about the other Clans, but WindClan always has a few of those stretchers in the medicine den."

"I have some," said Mistfur.

"I don't have any stretchers currently," said Oakleaf, "but I'll go and get all my medicine supplies here."

"Yeah, neither do I," added Bluemist.

"How many stretchers does that amount to?" Whitestar asked.

"Um, four in WindClan and three in ShadowClan," said Mistfur. "That amounts to seven total."

"That should be enough," said Bluemist. "If we need more, we can always reuse them."

"Right," said Whitestar, brusquely. "Medicine cats, go back to camp and bring whatever medicine supplies and stretchers you have. Take some warriors with you."

"Sure," said Bluemist. "Whitepaw, come with me. Carpflight and Spottedsky, come with me, too." He led the medicine cats out of the island.

"What will our battle tactics be?" asked Whitestar, looking out to the four leaders.

"I say we should fight near a river," said Sassafrasstar. "My cats will have the best chance of success then."

The other cats snorted. "I don't know of any river in that area," said Crowstar.

Clove spoke up. "There's a river very near my home," she said. "I can show you."

"Thank you Clove," Whitestar said. "We will fight near a river." He looked around. "I think in order to lure some of the Legion cats, we will need a patrol of the fastest WindClan warriors to bring them there."

There were protests at this. "How do you expect us not to become prisoners?" one cat shouted. "Swiftrunner and Runningpaw are some of the fastest cats in WindClan, and they got captured!"

"Okay then, scratch that plan," said Whitestar.

Crowstar spoke up. "Do you think if we kill some prey and lure them with the scent of blood, they'll come?" he asked.

Larkflight frowned. "Isn't that against the warrior code?" she asked. "Killing prey not to be eaten?"

"I don't think the spirits will be mad at us if we kill one squirrel, Larkflight," said Whitestar. "Besides, desperate times call for desperate measures."

"So when they come, how are we going to fight?" asked Crowstar.

"The RiverClan cats will fight first," said Sassafrasstar. "The rest of you should be hiding somewhere. After some time, the rest of you will jump in and surprise the Legion warriors."

"That makes sense," agreed Crowstar. "But will your warriors be able to hold them off for that long?"

"Actually," said Larkflight, "I think RiverClan and ShadowClan should fight together in the beginning. There's no way just one Clan can hold off so many cats."

I immediately guessed what Larkflight was up to. She was trying to make peace with RiverClan. Sassafrasstar looked surprised, but accepted.

"Thank you Larkflight. ShadowClan and RiverClan will fight together." She looked at Whitestar and Crowstar. "The ThunderClan-WindClan group will come in only after we get the battle started."

"We also need a patrol to rescue Goldensun, Swiftrunner, and Runningpaw," added Whitestar. "We can't leave them there."

"Of course not," agreed Crowstar. "I think we should send two warriors of each Clan, and a medicine cat. Who will it be?"

"I think Whitepaw can be the medicine cat," Sassafrasstar said suddenly. "He should go, because he's an apprentice and all the full medicine cats will be needed at the battle."

Whitestar thought for a moment, and nodded.

"Now since that's settled," said Whitestar, "WindClan will send Darkbird and Yellowstripe. They were captured by the Legion, and know their way around the prison area. Yellowstripe, Darkbird, do you accept this mission?"

Both warriors nodded eagerly. I watched Sweetsong looking over at the two warriors eagerly. I could tell that she approved of Whitestar's choice, particularly since they had been captured by the Legion together.

"RiverClan will send Sweetsong and Frostheart," said Sassafrasstar. "Sweetsong knows the prison area, and Frostheart is an experienced warrior. She will be able to help guide the others. Sweetsong, Frostheart, will you go?"

"Yes!" said Sweetsong firmly, while Frostheart nodded. I started to feel a bit of grudging admiration for Sweetsong. _Although she was captured by the Legion, she's still brave enough to go and face them again…_ I was still annoyed with her for wanting me to be her 'best friend', but she was a good warrior.

"I'll take volunteers from my Clan," said Crowstar. "Anyone?"

"I volunteer!" called Squirrelstep. "So do I!" yelled Lionpaw eagerly.

Goldenear frowned at him. "Lionpaw, you're only an apprentice. You cannot go."

"Oh, darn it," Lionpaw muttered.

"I'll go too," said a reddish-brown warrior.

"Okay, it's settled," said Crowstar "ThunderClan will send Squirrelstep and Redclaw."

"I ask cats in ShadowClan to volunteer, too," said Larkflight.

A ginger she-cat stepped forward. "I will go," she meowed.

"So will I," said a gray tabby tom. "I would like to go with my mate."

"Very well then," said Larkflight, "ShadowClan will send Gingerspike and Rainstorm."

"And I think we should send Clove and Talon as well," said Sassafrasstar. "For those of you who don't know, they are loners who were living in my Clan. They know the area of the Twolegplace well enough, and will be able to give these cats guidance."

"Why should we send loners?" asked Crowstar. "What use are they to us?"

Sassafrasstar glared at him, but Whitestar intervened. "I think we should send them, Crowstar. They saved RiverClan's and my apprentices from the Legion, and we owe them one."

"I… I never said they _couldn't_ go, I was only"… Crowstar looked embarrassed. "Fine, I mean. They can go."

"Thank you," said Sassafrasstar diplomatically.

"Is that all we should have planned?" asked Whitestar.

"I think so," said Larkflight. Crowstar agreed.

"We should go home now, then," said Whitestar. "We'll all meet in RiverClan camp tomorrow, because it's closest to the Legion. Get some rest, everyone; it's going to be a long day tomorrow."

* * *

 **I have something important to say here. The next few chapters are going to be very intense and filled with long battle scenes, crazy supernatural stuff, and all that jazz. They're the last ten chapters of the story, but they're the longest and the scariest. I just want to warn you guys that if that's the sort of thing that gives you nightmares, you shouldn't read this at night.**

 **I actually mean this seriously. Once, I had to read a short story for homework, and I ended up reading it at ten in the night (because I procrastinated and didn't read it earlier). It was the scariest, most creepy story I had ever read. I'm not even kidding. I don't think I even slept that night, I was that disturbed. So if tragic death scenes and evil dead cats is something that disturbs you, don't read this too late in the night. Please.**


	37. Chapter 33: The Battle Begins

**Hey, guys. Now it's time to see some real action. The battle begins!**

 ** _"_** ** _Featherheart, I found the cat who killed you," I said. Featherheart nearly dropped her possum in shock. "Who?"_**

 ** _"_** ** _It's Hareflight of RiverClan," I said triumphantly. "He was convicted as a Clan traitor and sent off to live with some loner. I don't know what kind of a punishment that is. Anyways," I added, snorting, "I still don't know his location as of now, but I'll work on it."_**

 ** _"_** ** _Yeah, work on it," agreed Flowerstar._**

 ** _"_** ** _Here's the plan," Sandfur said. "After you and Featherheart deal with Hareflight, go and catnap a RiverClan cat, preferably someone close to Sassafrasstar, and bring them here. Make sure your scent trail is strong so that we can lead Sassafrasstar straight back to us. We can then torture and kill her ourselves."_**

 ** _"_** ** _I'm going to sleep," Featherheart yawned, heading to her moss nest._**

 ** _I found some moss and arranged it right next to Featherheart, curling up beside her. Everything was going perfectly. Only three more days until it was all over._**

* * *

CHAPTER 33: THE BATTLE BEGINS

Whitepaw's POV

That day, I went to sleep as soon as I got home. All the medicine supplies and stretchers were stored in the medicine den. It also took up some space in Bluemist's den, so he and I had to share a room. I tried to fall asleep, but throughout the night I kept having nightmares.

Just before the morning, I had the strangest dream. I was in a tunnel underground, and suddenly, the ground below me was shaking. I screamed and tried to run, but then the exit in front of me was blocked. Then the tunnel collapsed on top of me, and I felt myself suffocating…

I screamed. The scream woke Bluemist up, and he shook me awake. "Whitepaw!" he yelled.

I opened my eyes to see him in front of me.

"Are you all right?"

"No," I said, sounding hysterical. "Do I _look_ alright? The tunnel just collapsed on me and" –

Bluemist shoved something into my mouth. I swallowed, and recognized the taste of thyme. I started to relax.

"You were having a nightmare," he said.

"Oh," I said, feeling embarrassed. "Sorry."

"I had a nightmare too," said Bluemist grimly. "I dreamed that the Legion defeated us. And then… I saw Goldensun being killed in front of my eyes."

"I'm sorry," I murmured, feeling even guiltier that my dream hadn't been about the Legion. It had been about some stupid tunnels. "We should get up. The battle will be starting soon."

"You're right, it's almost sunrise," he agreed. "Let's go."

I helped Bluemist lug some of the medicine supplies out. Everyone was going, except for the queens, elders, kits, Greennose and Heronclaw. They were going to guard Soot and help the queens hunt for the Clan, if necessary.

WindClan had already arrived at our camp, and Mapleleaf helped us with the stretchers. Soon ShadowClan arrived, and then lastly ThunderClan.

"Listen up everyone," said Whitestar, climbing up the Lakeledge, "we are going into a very tough battle today, with cats who have no sense of honor. Some cats will die."

 _Wow, very reassuring_ , I thought sarcastically.

"We will go into battle to rescue our cats who were captured," Whitestar continued, looking around. "We will fight for the right to keep our claim to this land, which our ancestors came to a long time ago. Together, we will win!"

A cheer rang among the Clan cats as they yowled, "Whitestar! Whitestar!" But the cheer was interrupted by the annoying sound of Darkstar's voice.

"We don't need the pep talk," said Darkstar impatiently. "Let's just go."

There was a gasp of anger from the cats, as if they couldn't believe Darkstar was interrupting an important speech. _Darkstar? I thought he was sick_ , I thought. _Why did Darkstar have to come?_

Oh well. We would have to have him along. He wasn't nominated as leader of the alliance, thank StarClan, so it wasn't like he'd be able to do anything.

"Ready for this?" I whispered to my siblings. They nodded.

"Let's just go," called Whitestar, clearly noticing Darkstar and the anger that some Clan cats were displaying. "I think it would be better not to delay the battle." We began the march into the Legion's territory.

* * *

Talon met us at his home.

"How is Hareflight?" asked Sassafrasstar.

"I told him to stay home today," he answered, gesturing to the Twoleg den to the right of us. "What are you here for?"

"We're going to fight the Legion," answered Sassafrasstar. "Clove is going to fight with us. Will you join?"

Talon grunted. "Well, only a cold-hearted fool would leave his sibling to fight a battle alone," he said. "I trust my sister's judgment. If she believes that your cause is worthy, I'm in."

"Good," said Sassafrasstar. "You are going to join a group of cats who are going to rescue the cats in the high-security vaults."

"Alright," said Talon. "Is my sister in the patrol too?"

"Naturally," answered Sassafrasstar. "We think since you and Clove know this area well, you can help us defeat the Legion."

"Well, we don't know this place that well," Talon grunted, "but we'll do our best." He glanced out at the stream. "Will Hareflight join in the fight?"

"No," answered Sassafrasstar, shortly. "He's not a member of RiverClan."

"Cats of the Clans, get ready for the attack!" shouted Whitestar. "Look, the river is over there."

Whitestar had chosen Sunstreak to hunt the prey. She found a squirrel on the ground and promptly killed it. Blood dripped from her paws, forming a nice trail on the ground. "This should attract them," she said.

"Sassafrasstar, you lead the first patrol," said Whitestar. "I'll lead the second one. Good luck." He and his group disappeared into the forest.

"Whitepaw," whispered a voice. I looked up to see Clove. "We're going to stay here for a while, then when the second patrol attacks, we'll make a run for it."

I nodded. "Will do," I said, following her to the forest, where the ThunderClan-WindClan patrol was.

We waited for a while, until the scent of Legion cats came into the air. I shuddered, but remembered to be calm. The battle would go fine. It had to.

"Why, hello," I heard a she-cat's voice. "Pleased to meet you. I'm Kettle, temporary deputy of the Legion until our friend Soot comes back." Her eyes flashed. "What have you done with him, by the way?"

"He's a RiverClan prisoner," answered Sassafrasstar. "That's what happens when you wander on our territory."

"I can't believe you were stupid enough to come into our territory and think you'd escape alive," she sneered. "Legion, attack."

It happened so fast that I could barely breathe. The Legion cats barreled onto the warriors, attacking mercilessly. But the warriors fought back. Just – not so well.

"Now it's time to go!" Whitestar whispered. "Our turn to attack!"

Everyone except me and the rescue-patrol cats ran out after Whitestar, attacking the surprised Legion cats. They clearly hadn't expected reinforcements.

"It's now or never," Frostheart whispered. "Let's go."

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

Swanpaw's POV

I fought a russet-furred she-cat, wincing as I hit my paw against a stone. That one move was enough for her to pin me down, my paw uncomfortably twisted under me.

I pretended to be limp for a second, then sprang up. This surprised her as I twisted out from under her, like a snake. I dove straight into the water, any RiverClan cat's sanctuary, and began to splash. The she-cat was blinded temporarily, and I took advantage of that to shove her into the water.

The she-cat gasped as I held her down firmly, stopping her from breathing. Suddenly I froze.

I was doing the exact same thing to this she-cat as Hareflight had done to Featherheart.

I removed my paws from her back. She sprang up to the surface, beginning to cough. She glared at me.

"Get out," I advised her. "And don't come back again."

The she-cat spat a mixture of blood and water out of her mouth and stormed away.

So far, it seems the battle has been going fairly well. There have been some injuries, but all the injured cats have been able to go to the medicine cats on their own. There have been no deaths or major injuries – well, at least not yet.

I kept that thought in mind as I searched around for the next Legion cat to battle.

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

Sweetsong's POV

All was according to plan. No cat had seen us slip out from the battlefield, and we made it to the prison area. Now we had to figure out how to rescue the others.

"Are you okay?" I asked Whitepaw, who was staring quietly at the ground. He flattened his ears.

"I'm fine," he said softly. "Just worried about my siblings."

I sighed. "I'm worried about Hareflight too."

"You know, about Hareflight"… Whitepaw shifted his paws. "I think you should forgive Flamepaw."

I stared at him in surprise. "But Flamepaw insulted Hareflight," I exclaimed. "He said Hareflight wasn't fit to be a warrior. How can I forgive him for insulting my brother?"

"He's been through a lot," Whitepaw answered. "He misses Eaglekit more than any of us, and"…

I snorted. " _All_ of us miss Eaglekit. Besides, that doesn't give him an excuse to be rude."

"You know Sweetsong, I honestly think he likes you," said Whitepaw suddenly.

I stared at him. " _Likes_ me?" I repeated incredulously. "What makes you think that?"

"Ever since you went with him to ShadowClan, he's always admired you," Whitepaw answered. "I think he looks up to you like a big sister. He just doesn't know how to show it."

I sighed. Whitepaw was my friend, but he wasn't always right about other cats' feelings.  
"I don't think so."

"Trust me," Whitepaw insisted. "You're the cat he needs to get over Eaglekit. If that happens, he'll easily forgive Hareflight."

"Guys, enough chatter!" Frostheart called out to us. "There are guards over there!"

Sure enough, four cats were standing in front of the prison, not really hearing us. Fortunately, they looked a bit tired and would seem easy to overcome, but we couldn't underestimate the Legion. There could be more of them around.

"How do you plan on diverting the attention of those guards?" asked Talon.

"I have an idea," said Clove. "Sweetsong, Whitepaw, and I will go and rescue the missing cats. The rest of you should attack those guards."

"Sounds good," agreed Frostheart. "I'll lead the patrol." She marched out with the other cats behind her.

"What are you Clan cats doing here?" one of the guards demanded. "Well guess what? You're going to become prisoners!"

"Yeah, not going to happen. ATTACK!" Frostheart roared. Everyone threw themselves at the guards.

Although these guards were supposed to be strong, there were only four of them on duty and they were no match for eight cats. They struggled, but could not fight.

"Now's our chance," Clove whispered. We ran to the side of the Twoleg den and tore the brambles apart. "Let's go."

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

Flamepaw's POV

The first major injury happened quickly.

I saw Cedarpaw fighting a Legion cat, barely able to hold it up. He slashed the apprentice hard in the belly, and Cedarpaw wailed. Then he slashed his legs, which made him unable to stand up.

"Bye bye," the Legion cat laughed. For a moment, I thought he was about to kill Cedarpaw, but he instead just walked away, laughing, leaving Cedarpaw to suffer on the ground.

I was furious. "Hey, siblings!" I shouted. "I need a stretcher over here!"

"Got it!" yelled Swanpaw. She, Waterpaw, and Foxpaw dragged a stretcher to where Cedarpaw lay.

Since me, my siblings, Cedarpaw, Foxpaw, and Featherpaw were the only apprentices across all the Clans, Mapleleaf put us in charge of transporting cats to stretchers. If we saw a severely injured cat, we should carry them onto one. Unfortunately, Cedarpaw had been goaded into fighting the Legion cat and wasn't able to defend himself properly. But thankfully, that was what we were here for. I helped them lift Cedarpaw onto the stretcher.

Then came the tricky part. From there, we had to carry the stretcher back to the medicine cats. It took four of us to carry it, since none of us were anywhere near as strong as a full-grown warrior. When we reached the medicine cats, we had to let down the stretcher very carefully. First, Swanpaw came out from under the stretcher and carefully placed her corner on the ground. Then Waterpaw had to let it down. Then next came me, and last, Foxpaw.

"Good work," Bluemist praised. He and Mapleleaf lifted Cedarpaw off the stretcher, so it could be used for another cat. They placed Cedarpaw on the ground.

"He'll be fine," said Mapleleaf after a minute. "He just can't fight for a while." She placed cobwebs on his fur.

Suddenly I heard a scream. I turned around to see Darkstar battling with Kettle. Kettle kicked him to the ground and slashed his legs. "Bye, Stupidstar," she laughed. "It was nice knowing you. Have a good life – what's left of it." Still laughing, she walked off as Darkstar lay groaning on the ground.

"Darkstar!" gasped Featherpaw. "Let's go!"

We grabbed another stretcher and rushed to his rescue. It was difficult to lift Darkstar onto the stretcher, but we somehow managed. We lifted the stretcher onto our backs, but staggered with the weight.

When we reached the medicine cats, Oakleaf and Mapleleaf lifted Darkstar off of the stretcher and placed him on the ground. Mistfur let out a hysterical scream. "Darkstar!" she yelled.

"Flamepaw, go get me some cobwebs," Bluemist said. I nodded and dashed to the pile of herbs.

"No!" Mistfur yelled. "Darkstar, you can't die!"

"What's the big deal?" I asked. "It's not like he can't come back to life another time"…

Bluemi st shot me a warning look. I stopped, surprised.

"So Darkstar _is_ on his last life?" asked Swanpaw.

"Yes," cried Mistfur. "He won't survive."

"Let's see if we can try to save him, instead of crying that we can't," Oakfur said sensibly. "She-cats," he muttered, picking up some marigold and applying poultice to Darkstar's wounds.

Darkstar looked up at Mistfur, and then at all of us. It was a small glance, but somehow, I knew what he was trying to say, but couldn't. This was it. This meant goodbye. He closed his eyes for the last time, and then his body went very still.

"Oh _no_!" cried Mistfur.

"Mistfur, we have to keep on top of ourselves," said Oakleaf firmly. "We have more cats to save. You cannot grieve for Darkstar now."

I stood and stared at the ongoing battle, wondering how many more lives it would take.

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

Whitepaw's POV

Inside the den, there were three stalls stuffed with brambles. I looked at them and knew at once that the three prisoners were in there.

"We'll each take one," whispered Clove.

I opened one of the stalls, undoing the brambles. As I finished, I suddenly felt something hit me. Blood dripped down my shoulders, and I yelled in pain.

"You guards are not going to taunt me anymore! I don't care what you do to me after this!" the voice yelled.

"I'm not a guard," I said quickly. "I'm here to rescue you!"

"You are? What's your name?" asked the tom.

"Whitepaw," I said. "I've the RiverClan medicine apprentice."

The tom squinted. "I'm Runningpaw."

"Well, Runningpaw," I said, "we have to get out of here. My friends Clove and Sweetsong are liberating Swiftwind and Goldensun."

I heard a squeal of delight behind me. Sweetsong was affectionately licking her father's shoulder.

"It was pure torture in there," Goldensun muttered. "But I'm happy to see you again, Sweetsong." He cast her a loving glance.

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

Turtlepaw's POV

I stood in the Twolegplace, looking for Talon's home.

Ahead of me, I could see a fight was going on. The Legion and… the Clans? I squinted to see. Sure enough, the cats in the Clans were fighting together against the Legion cats. So they had planned an attack that I didn't know about.

I felt a twinge of shame, and for a moment, I considered joining them. But that would be counterproductive to my plans. Besides, I was now independent. I couldn't be a part of a Clan. They'd never welcome me after what I'd done.

 _They've never welcomed you before,_ I thought. _Why should you ever do them a favor? They don't deserve it!_

Suddenly I caught it. A whiff of Hareflight's scent. It was very vague, but it was still there. I stopped dead, trying to figure out where it was from.

 _It's coming from that Twoleg den_ , I realized. _I've got to find him!_

I ran out from the trees, towards the Twoleg den. I had to get to Hareflight. It was time for my revenge.

* * *

Flamepaw's POV

Suddenly, I saw something in the distance. A tortoiseshell she-cat was running from the forest, across the meadow and into Talon's home. It all happened very fast, but I saw it quite clearly.

"Flamepaw? What is it?" Swanpaw whispered to me. I was thinking about the tortoiseshell she-cat. Who could she be?

With a flash, I suddenly knew who it was. I could be wrong, but if it was her, Hareflight would be in big trouble! I had to go after her.

I didn't know why I was doing this. I hated Hareflight, so why was I going to help him?

But somehow, this felt right. No matter my personal feelings of Hareflight, he should at least be given a chance. And I knew Turtlepaw would never give him any chance.

"Oh, Swanpaw?" I said. "Listen, you and Waterpaw stay here and help all the injured warriors. And whatever you do, do not follow me. And especially don't let Waterpaw."

"Flamepaw? What are you talking about?" demanded Swanpaw.

"Well, um – Look, just trust me, okay?" I said. "Stay right here."

I sped off towards the Twoleg den before I could change my mind.

* * *

Hareflight's POV

I sat in the room Talon had given me, wondering how the Clans were doing. Talon had specifically told me to stay inside while he went to talk with Sassafrasstar. But I'd listened on their conversation, and heard every word.

When Talon had asked if I would join the battle, Sassafrasstar's answer was curt and short. _No. He's not a member of RiverClan._ That crushed me. I knew I had betrayed RiverClan, and it was no cat's fault but my own, but couldn't she trust me? Couldn't things go back to the way they used to be?

A sudden creak in the door drew my attention. A tortoiseshell she-cat entered the room.

"Turtlepaw?" I asked in surprise. "What brings you here?"

The she-cat glared at me, claws outstretched. Then she pounced.

I gasped as I hit the ground. "What are you doing?" I screeched.

"You killed Featherheart," Turtlepaw snarled. "You stupid little _fox-heart_." She drew her claws deep into my flanks, and I gasped in pain. "You filthy little _traitor_. I can't believe you thought you could betray the Clans and kill my friend." She bared her teeth. "Prepare to share her fate."

I tried to defend myself, but Turtlepaw was too strong. She laughed at my weak attempts to shove her off.

Then suddenly, the door slammed open, and I heard a yell.

"STOP!"

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

Whitepaw's POV

"It's time to go," said Swiftrunner. "We'd better go, before the Legion cats turn up here."

I agreed. There was no way I wanted to be caught by these cats a second time. Once was bad enough.

We started to walk outside, making sure to keep our pawsteps quiet. We turned the corner towards the clearing.

And then I had the biggest shock of my life.

Twelve Legion cats were standing in the clearing, all of them holding a Clan cat captive. I saw Darkbird struggling with her captor and Yellowstripe shooting me a desperate look. A thirteenth cat entered the stage – Luke. When he spoke, his voice was smooth and silky.

"Greetings," he purred. "I seem to remember you as the scrawny apprentices who escaped me before." His eyes shot daggers at Sweetsong and me. "Too bad you won't be escaping again."

* * *

 **Ooh, cliffie! For two POVs! What's going to happen next? Stay tuned for the next part!**

 **Next chapter:**

 **\- Whitepaw and Sweetsong have to figure out a way to escape from Luke and his Legion cats.**

 **\- Flamepaw and Hareflight see what is going on with Turtlepaw.**

 **\- Swanpaw and Waterpaw are left to fight the Legion cats, and must help their Clan win the battle.**

 **AOTD:** **I got a music stand. I've been wanting a decent one for a while, because I have this dinky portable one which just collapses all the time. But then I got one which actually works now. I also got a game for Wii U. It's Super Mario 3D World and it's pretty cool.**

 **QOTD 1:** **With the whole argument between Flamepaw and Sweetsong, which one of them do you side with? Do you side with Flamepaw and think that Sweetsong is being overemotional? Or do you side with Sweetsong and think that Flamepaw is a jerk?**

 **QOTD 2:** **What do you think is going to happen with Hareflight, Flamepaw, and Turtlepaw?**


	38. Chapter 34: The Battle Ends

**Happy New Year! It's 2017! Hopefully this year won't be a political disaster like last year. (I think everyone - well, most people at least - just gave up on 2016 after Trump won.) Well, hopefully things will go a bit better this year, and he won't be as bad of a president as everyone thought.**

* * *

CHAPTER 34: THE BATTLE ENDS

Flamepaw's POV

I stared at Hareflight's struggling form and the she-cat on top of him. The two cats who had betrayed us all. Both of them looked up, staring at me in surprise.

"Get off of him," I commanded to Turtlepaw. Turtlepaw glared at me defiantly. In response, I knocked her off of Hareflight and pinned her to the ground, my claws at her neck.

"Hareflight, get out of here," I ordered. "Go down to the battlefield and help the Clans fight. Now."

Hareflight stared at me. "I'm not leaving you!" he said stubbornly. "She nearly took me down, and I'm a warrior. You're only an apprentice!"

"This isn't exactly the best place for you to be right now," I retorted, jabbing my claws into Turtlepaw's pelt. "So get out of here."

Hareflight stared at me stubbornly; it was clear he was not going to leave. With an annoyed hiss, I diverted my attention to Turtlepaw.

"What exactly are _you_ doing here?"

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

Sweetsong's POV

Oh no. This couldn't be happening. Just as I was so sure we were going to escape, they came. We were all going to become prisoners. We would all stay here for eternity and never get to see our Clanmates again.

I stopped myself from letting my imagination go too far.

"Well, what do we have here?" asked Luke, smiling sweetly at us. "You poor Clan cats thought you could escape us? Well, you're wrong!"

"Why, you," began Frostheart. "You Legion cats are nothing but FOX-HEARTS!"

"Frostheart!" I gasped as she tore from her captor's grip.

"How dare you capture cats like this?" she yelled. "Treating them like slaves, acting like you own the world… Well, Luke, you're never going to own the lake. Go find your own place to live."

Luke looked as if he'd been slapped in the face. "Don't you dare speak in that way to me," he snarled. "I don't appreciate that sort of behavior."

"Well, I'm not one of your brain-dead minions. Deal with it."

"Frostheart!" I yelled again. What was she doing? Didn't she see she was going to get herself killed?

"I bet your Legion can't do half the things the Clans can do," Frostheart taunted.

That did it. The cats who were holding the others let go of their captives, in their surprise. I didn't think any cat has spoken to Luke like that.

"They only serve you out of fear," Frostheart said. "Not out of respect. That's why the Clans are so much more powerful than the Legion. We have something you'll never have. Cats that are willing to serve their leader to no end."

"Do you dare call us disloyal?" a Legion cat yowled.

Frostheart glanced at me. It was a small glance, one that was barely recognizable, but it meant everything. She looked at me, and then her eyes flicked towards the exit. _Go_ , her eyes were saying. _Save yourselves._

I couldn't believe it.

 _How can she do this?_ I thought. _I always knew that Frostheart was a loyal warrior, but… doesn't she know we're not going to leave? We'll stand by her, even if we get imprisoned._

"You're leader is an _idiot_ ," said Frostheart. "He's a bully if I ever knew one. This is why your Legion will fail, Luke. Cats like you aren't really leaders, especially if you have to resort to imprisoning apprentices just to get what you want."

"That's it," Luke snarled. "You're not getting away with that." He kicked Frostheart to the ground and slashed her belly open with his claws. Blood poured out, creating a puddle on the ground. Frostheart attempted to kick back with her legs, but her attempts were futile. Luke leaned over and sank his claws deep into her throat as she twisted and screamed. He killed her with a bite at her spine.

Oh. My. StarClan. I didn't know what to say. I stood there, my legs shaking violently and about to make me fall over at any moment.

 _She can't be dead_ , I told myself. _She saved us! She –_

"Sweetsong," I heard Goldensun's voice in my ear. "We have to go, okay? WE HAVE TO GO!"

I looked up blindly and saw the others running to the exit. I followed them, running out of the clearing and into the forest.

"They're escaping!" yowled Luke. "Quick!"

The Legion cats stared at their leader. Obviously they were very confused by what had just happened.

"What are you waiting for?" roared Luke. "AFTER THEM!"

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

Flamepaw's POV

As Turtlepaw was about to speak, the sound of paw-steps suddenly echoed through the room. Hareflight and I froze, staring at each other; Turtlepaw twisted out from under me. Slowly, a curved, demented smile began to form across her face. It became even wider when the cat who was following us burst into the room.

She was tall and willowy, with silvery-gray fur. Her head was held tall, and she bore an arrogant look on her face. Her pale green eyes gleamed with malice as she looked over at us.

Turtlepaw spoke, a gleam in her eyes as she looked over at the silver she-cat. "Just in time, Featherheart."

Hareflight looked as if he were about to faint. "You're supposed to be dead!" he yowled, anguish in his eyes.

" _Supposed to_ is the right phrase ," Featherheart purred, her eyes gazing over us. "But I have done the impossible and defied even the word of StarClan. So have my allies, Flowerstar, Sandfur, and Orangefoot. I suggest you all sit tight and enjoy this final spectacle!" She narrowed her eyes at Hareflight, and without warning, barreled straight into me.

Hareflight gasped. He tried to help me, but Turtlepaw knocked him down.

A bright purple bubble suddenly appeared around me. I gasped and tried to push my way out of the bubble, but it didn't work.

"We are going to take Flamepaw with us," Featherheart said, jeering at me. "Imagine how Sassafrasstar will feel when her precious babykins is taken away from her."

Hareflight stared at me, petrified.

"Hareflight," I roared, trying to make my voice heard through the bubble, "go down to the battlefield and get some help!"

"NO!" Turtlepaw screeched, holding Hareflight down. "I" –

In a flash, Hareflight suddenly pulled himself out of Turtlepaw's grasp, knocking her to the ground. Before she could fathom any of what was happening, he raced out to the door, out of the room.

Turtlepaw looked at Featherheart helplessly.

"It doesn't matter," Featherheart said, smirking. "By the time he comes back here, we'll be gone."

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

Whitepaw's POV

We ran through the woods, escaping from the Legion cats. We had a head start, but they would soon catch up. We needed a plan.

"Sweetsong, remember when we escaped from the Legion before?" I asked.

"Oh yeah, I remember that," she said. "We climbed the trees."

"Yeah," I said with a grin. "I think that's what we should do now."

"Everyone, climb a tree!" shouted Sweetsong. "We'll run across the treetops and escape."

"Oh yeah, like that worked _really_ well before!" Darkbird shouted at us.

"I think it will," Clove said unexpectedly. "As long as you're quiet about it."

Squirrelstep looked uncertain. "I'm not sure that's a good idea."

"Why not?" asked Rainstorm.

"Well, you see… I'm kind of scared of trees."

Talon let out an exasperated hiss. "You a ThunderClan cat or what?"

"Well, I can climb if I have to," said Squirrelstep, "but"…

"Well, you have to! So climb!" Redclaw shouted. Nervously, she started to climb.

I followed her. "Look, you shouldn't be scared," I said encouragingly. "When I was first here, I was scared of thunder. But I had to throw that fear aside, because then we had a fire"…

"Stop talking! Let's just go," Goldensun yelled. Being a blind cat, he had never climbed a tree in his life, so he was forced to stay on the ground with Runningpaw and Swiftrunner.

We ran across the treetops, our paws going as fast as we could make them.

"Where are they?" I heard a Legion cat yell.

"Over there, you fools!" Luke yelled back. "What are you waiting for? Go after them!"

He hadn't seen us in the treetops, but he'd spotted Goldensun and the two WindClan cats. Goldensun was struggling to keep up with the WindClanners and I knew he would be the first to be caught.

"We have to create a diversion!" Darkbird cried.

"Legion cats, over here!" I yelled.

The Legion cats heard my voice from the trees, and shouted. "There's more of them?"

"Go after them!" Luke barked. Then I heard the sound of climbing.

"So, what do we do now?" asked Squirrelstep.

"Easy," I answered. "Once we have them here, we jump down."

"That's a horrible plan!" exclaimed Sweetsong.

"I know," I answered, "but it's all I've got. We just need to lead them away from Goldensun and the others."

"Then what?" asked Rainstorm.

"We'll run."

The Legion cats were starting to climb. They had found a good way up. Now was the time.

"Go!" I yelled. We sped down the tree, at full speed. The Legion cats weren't expecting this and tried to follow us, but weren't fast enough. We ran in a different direction than the others.

Sweetsong was right; this _was_ a terrible plan. I realized that the Legion cats would catch up to us very soon. There was only one way; we had to make it back to the Clans.

"If we go this way, we'll lead them straight to the Clans!" Sweetsong shouted in my ear.

"I know," I answered, "but it's the only way we'll escape. Come on!"

We pelted through the trees and to the meadow, where the Clans fought.

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

Turtlepaw's POV

Featherheart and I continued to laugh, our laughs echoing as we watched Flamepaw struggle in the bubble.

"Where's… Hareflight?" he muttered, almost to the point where he sounded delirious.

"Harey's not here," said Featherheart in a sing-song tone. "He betrayed the Clans, didn't he? We know he's not very loyal. Maybe he decided he had better things to do."

"What about the traitor whom I'm just speaking with?" Flamepaw demanded. He glared at me. "And the traitor who sits right beside her?"

There was a very long pause. I glared at Flamepaw, rage rising in my throat. How dare he compare us with traitors? We were _nothing_ like Hareflight!

"Oh, _that_ wasn't very nice," Featherheart drawled, flexing her claws. A moment later, she had leapt straight into the bubble and roughly clawed Flamepaw over the ear, pushing him over. The black-and-gold tom cried out as Featherheart withdrew, satisfied.

"Oh wow," I smirked. "Nice going."

Then Flamepaw said something that made the ice shatter.

"You're a fool."

I snapped my eyes up. Flamepaw was staring straight at me. He didn't look angry anymore, or even upset. He just looked… sad.

"This won't make you happy," Flamepaw pointed out. "You could have all the revenges in the world, all the victories, all the glories, but you would destroy the one cat whom you love the most."

"And who is that?" I demanded.

Flamepaw blinked slowly, his orange eyes slowly studying me.

… "I'm talking about Waterpaw."

There was a silence. My mouth had gone completely dry as I stared at Flamepaw.

 _Just when things are completely messed up, there's always a way to make them even worse…_

"You never wanted us to be together," I pointed out, my voice trembling. "You are the one who told us it wouldn't work out. You" –

"Leave my personal feelings out of this, will ya?" Flamepaw snapped back. "Yes, I was biased against you, because you were Flowerstar's kit and from ShadowClan. But don't blame me for your total lack of mental security. The reason why you're not a fit for Waterpaw is because you keep lying to yourself."

"I'm not" –

"Think about it," Flamepaw continued. "I'm certainly not perfect myself; I hate Hareflight for killing Eaglekit, and I don't think he deserves to be part of RiverClan." He took a huge breath. "But… but I don't go around _murdering_ others because of it."

I stood up, anger in my eyes.

"You don't understand. I'm doing this _for_ Waterpaw. He'll be upset at first, but later, he will come to accept it."

Flamepaw stared at me, a look of pity in his eyes more prominent than ever.

"I feel sorry for you, Turtlepaw," he said, with full sincerity in his voice. "You could have whatever you wanted. You could have been someone successful, someone admirable. You could be a loyal warrior of ShadowClan, or even a member of RiverClan. If you just could settle down, you could end up happy. But you won't do that.

"Is that what you really want? Do you want Waterpaw to be hurt because of your actions?" Flamepaw's eyes bored into mine. "Will you do something about it, or will you" –

… "That is enough."

Featherheart stepped forward, her eyes flashing with rage as she glared at Flamepaw.

"I'm not going to let you ruin something which we've worked moons for," she snapped. "Turtlepaw, don't listen to him. You're doing the right thing." She lifted her head high.

At the sight of her head rising in the air, I began to feel more confident. I stared straight at Flamepaw.

"I know you think what I'm doing is wrong," I told him. "But you'll understand later. You'll all understand."

Flamepaw stared at me for a long moment. His orange eyes stared into my dark green, almost defiantly. Then he let out a long sigh and leaned back.

"If that is what you wish"…

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

Swanpaw's POV

All I saw around me was blood. Cats fighting, the battlefield soaked with red, and our battle being lost.

 _We're losing_ , I thought frantically. _The Legion is going to win._

Everything we had worked towards was now lost. I saw Cedarpaw, Leafsplash, Brindlefire, and several other cats, mainly from ShadowClan, among the injured. Several had been killed in the battle as well.

And Flamepaw… where had _he_ run off to? He had run to the Twoleg den, for some reason. Had he gone to see… _Hareflight_? But he hated Hareflight! Why would he bother with him when there was a huge battle going on?

Sweetsong ran up to me at that moment, her pelt covered in blood. "Sweetsong!" I cried in alarm.

"It's not all my blood," she assured me. "What is the matter?"

"Flamepaw's gone," I answered, pointing to the Twoleg den. "He" –

It was just at that moment when I saw someone running out the Twoleg den.

"Hareflight?" I asked in shock as the brown-and-white tom came closer.

"What are you doing here?" Sweetsong gasped. "Didn't Sassafrasstar tell you to stay in the Twoleg den?"

Hareflight looked absolutely beside himself. "You have to come!" he screamed. "Something awful has happened!"

"What?" I demanded.

"Flamepaw's been catnapped!" Hareflight cried. "Featherheart and Turtlepaw were there, and they captured him, and he's in a huge purple bubble, and" –

"Slow down!" I interrupted. "What in StarClan's name are you talking about? Flamepaw captured, in a purple bubble? And what is this about Featherheart? She's _dead_!"

"That's the thing," Hareflight answered. "She somehow came back to life. And she has some dark magical power that makes her keep Flamepaw as a prisoner."

"Explain," said Sweetsong roughly. "You're not making any sense."

Hareflight explained the whole thing to us. I sat back, listening in horror. When he was done, I stood straight up and yowled, "We have to go after them!"

"But Swanpaw," he said with urgency, "if Featherheart has that sort of power, she'll probably capture us too, and" –

"Swanpaw's right!" Sweetsong interrupted him. "If we don't go now, Flamepaw will have already been taken away!"

I nodded. Strangely enough, Sweetsong looked more distressed than even Hareflight. A few tears were coming out of her eyes.

"Is there something wrong?" I asked her.

"I'm fine," she snapped. "We're wasting time. Let's go now, and" –

"Oh, I don't think so."

I froze and stopped, hearing the voice which had spoken. Kettle and Jasper were behind us, smirking.

"You're not going anywhere," Kettle barked, stepping forward. "You came for a battle, and you're going to have to contend with us."

"But" – I began, but Jasper launched himself onto me, shoving me down. I gasped and rolled over to the side, pulling myself out of his grasp.

"Sweetsong!" Hareflight shouted at her. "Go find Flamepaw and bring him back! We'll deal with these two!"

"No!" screamed Kettle, but Hareflight blocked her from getting near Sweetsong. The she-cat fell on her paws.

I focused on my opponent, thinking of how I could unbalance him. I could run under his belly, snake around, and shove him into the river. Yeah, that would work. I narrowed my eyes and slipped underneath, causing his to gasp in surprise. Unsheathing my claws, I dove into the water, feeling the chill at once.

"You're going to hide in the water?" Jasper roared. A moment later, he threw himself in after me. "Think I can't swim? I'm going to hold you down until you suffocate! Like that?" He held me down.

Luckily for me, I had managed to get a huge gulp of air before being pushed under, so I at least had some air to breathe. But it was going away, fast.

 _Sustain it_ , I told myself. One advantage as a RiverClan cat was that we could hold our breaths underwater for much longer than a cat of another Clan. We were naturally adept to this, after being the Clan of swimmers for such a long time. Although I had limited practice underwater so far, I knew this would help me greatly.

But I had to figure out a way to get out.

I unsheathed my back claws and aimed a kick at Jasper's shoulder. He was not expecting this, and reeled back. I took advantage of this to kick as hard as I could – every spot where I could get a claw in – and he eventually had to let go of me. Gasping for air, I pulled myself out of the water and onto the bank.

Jasper stood in the river, glaring at me. "You little" – he began, but his voice was cut short as I kicked him hard in the chest. I thought he was going to fight me, but then he pulled himself out of the water, shaking his fur and glaring at me. Then he stomped away.

"Swanpaw!"

Hareflight appeared on the banks of the river, staring down at me. He helped me out of the water and led me to where Bluemist, Oakleaf, Mapleleaf, and Mistfur were standing.

"Come here, you need treatment," Mistfur said. She pulled me over and chewed up some marigold, putting it on my wounds.

"Did Sweetsong come back?" I asked Hareflight, wincing at the sting on my pelt.

At that moment, I saw Sweetsong running towards us, out of the Twoleg den. She stopped straight next to me, panting and completely out of breath. When she spoke, her voice sounded hollow and defeated.

"There was nothing there," she said. "He had been taken by Featherheart and Turtlepaw already. It's too late. He's gone."

"Gone?" I whispered painfully.

Sweetsong nodded, a tear falling from the side of her eye.

Just past the meadow, I could hear Whitestar's shout, which was somehow louder than any of the noise already going on in the battlefield.

"RETREAT!"

* * *

 **So that's it, then. The battle was a total flop. On the upside, we get to see Goldensun again! It's been, what, twenty chapters since he was taken by the Legion? I hope that was at least a good thing.**

 **Next chapter:**

 **\- Sweetsong, Hareflight, Swanpaw, and Whitepaw discover a new plan of the Legion.**

 **\- The Clans must recover from their defeat, and make plans to win the lake back.**


	39. Chapter 35: Desperation

**Previously on TRotR…**

 ** _Swanpaw, Whitepaw, and Waterpaw left to speak with the other apprentices. This left Flamepaw and Sweetsong behind, standing rather awkwardly together._**

 ** _"_** ** _Hi," Sweetsong said, rather quietly._**

 ** _"_** ** _Look," Flamepaw began, but she cut him off._**

 ** _"_** ** _I thought we could be_** **friends** ** _!" she said in a rush. "I mean, you and I went to ShadowClan together. How can you" –_**

 ** _"_** ** _We didn't do that much together," Flamepaw interrupted. "Where would you get that idea from? You and Whitepaw have a much closer bond, because both of you were captured for such a long time. Us, we were barely together for a day."_**

 ** _Sweetsong growled, but she didn't have much to say after that. Flamepaw just snorted._**

 ** _"_** ** _What is with you she-cats and friendships?" he sneered. "'Oh look, let's all be best buddies and get along.' Why do you need a friend ever? It's so much better to just be alone! I don't need anyone! And least of all someone who defends a traitor!"_**

 ** _Sweetsong huffed. She cast him one withering look and stormed off._**

 **Later…**

 ** _"I think you should forgive Flamepaw," Whitepaw meowed._**

 ** _Sweetsong stared at him in surprise. "But Flamepaw insulted Hareflight," she exclaimed. "He said Hareflight wasn't fit to be a warrior. How can I forgive him for insulting my brother?"_**

 ** _"_** ** _He's been through a lot," Whitepaw answered. "He misses Eaglekit more than any of us, and"…_**

 ** _Sweetsong snorted. "_** **All** ** _of us miss Eaglekit. Besides, that doesn't give him an excuse to be rude."_**

 ** _"_** ** _You know Sweetsong, I honestly think he likes you," said Whitepaw suddenly._**

 ** _Sweetsong stared at him. "_** **Likes** ** _me?" she repeated incredulously. "What makes you think that?"_**

 ** _"_** ** _Ever since you went with him to ShadowClan, he's always admired you," Whitepaw answered. "I think he looks up to you like a big sister. He just doesn't know how to show it."_**

 ** _Sweetsong sighed. Whitepaw was her friend, but he wasn't always right about other cats' feelings. "I don't think so."_**

 ** _"_** ** _Trust me," Whitepaw insisted. "You're the cat he needs to get over Eaglekit. If that happens, he'll easily forgive Hareflight."_**

* * *

CHAPTER 35: DESPERATION

 _Thunder will shake the Clans to its roots_

 _And crush its foes underfoot._

 _The sins of the mother are the sins of the daughter_

 _And will continue from next generation to the other._

 _Will the battle go on? or will it end?_

 _Do we have to put up with meaningless bloodshed?_

 _How many more days_

 _'_ _Till the lake will run red?_

 _Whatever the outcome, whatever the end,_

 _Nothing will ever be the same again._

Eaglekit's POV

That night was cold and stormy. Waterkit and I huddled together for warmth and comfort.

"This is going to be tough," Waterkit said grimly. "Let's be strong." As she spoke, thunder boomed in the distance.

"I'm scared," I whimpered.

"I know," said Waterkit sympathetically. "Thunder can be pretty scary. But don't worry."

"Not the thunder," I said. "I'm scared of what the StarClan council will say to me."

Waterkit arched her eyebrows in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"They'll know I helped the Dark Forest cats come to life," I said. "I'm going to be in so much trouble when we get back."

"Look, Eaglekit," said Waterkit, "you've made a lot of mistakes, but I'm not going to hold that against you. All of us have made those mistakes. But I don't think you deserve to get in trouble."

"But they won't see it that way," I wailed. "What if they send me to the Dark Forest?"

"Listen," said Waterkit, "When we get back, I'll put in a good word for you. I'll tell them it wasn't your fault, and you did everything you could to help."

"Really?" I asked her, gratefully.

"Yes," she answered. "And you know what? If you ask me, we shouldn't even exile cats to the Dark Forest in the first place."

I stared at her, surprised. Never had I heard such a radical view.

"I mean it," she said. "Before, I used to think we should. I thought it was the only way to keep peace. But now that we've left StarClan, I've been thinking about it. The more I think about it, the more I realize that StarClan isn't the beautiful, luxurious paradise they make it out to be. It has so many flaws."

"But the council always makes good decisions," I said, surprised.

Waterkit snorted. "You haven't been there for long," she said. "Did you know that they sent Purpleflower to the Dark Forest?"

"What?" I asked.

"She killed Darkshadow," answered Waterkit. "Even though she was justified in doing it, she got sent to the Dark Forest. Afterwards, they realized their mistake and brought her back. They've been more careful now, but the council is still unbearably strict."

"But we elected them," I protested.

"Yes, but they still act like a tyranny," she said. "They try to influence our thinking. They make everyone think that the Dark Forest cats are the ultimate bad guys and they're the heroes that'll save the day. It's not right. Yes, the Dark Forest cats are evil, but no cat is purely evil or purely good. They need to realize that."

I frowned, starting to see Waterkit's point. "And they don't allow us to think," I said. "We're just given a life of paradise in StarClan. If we even question any of their decisions, we are shut down. They think that stopping us from having a mind of their own will prevent future rebellions. But they're wrong."

"Right," she agreed. "I can see why cats like Featherheart want to go against StarClan's wishes. They see StarClan as a suffocating environment, and want to go to the Dark Forest to get away from that."

"So, what do you think is a solution for all these problems?" I asked.

"I think we should use a system of restorative justice," she said. "Give the Dark Forest cats a chance. Instead of treating them like worthless beings, we should embrace them and teach them that what they did was wrong. If we treat them with kindness instead of hate, they will have a chance to grow."

"That sounds good," I agreed. "They should encourage debate among us, instead of pretending that their opinions are the only opinions."

"Yeah," she yawned. "I think it's time we went to sleep. Goodnight Eaglekit."

"Goodnight," I said, putting my head down and closing my eyes.

* * *

Swanpaw's POV

We were running far away from the Legion cats. Surprisingly, they did not chase us. They just stood on the battlefield, laughing.

"Goodbye, Clan cats! Told you you couldn't beat us!" Kettle yowled.

I growled angrily, trying to keep pace with the Clan cats. The experienced warriors were carrying the stretchers on their backs, and I saw several injured and dead cats on all of them.

 _Oh StarClan, this can't be happening…_

"What were you and Sweetsong saying back there?" Whitepaw demanded, catching up to me. "You were saying something about Flamepaw getting captured by Featherheart and Turtlepaw? How is that possible?"

"Featherheart has come back to life," I answered. "She said she somehow has used her powers to get from StarClan to here. And Hareflight mentioned something about her having allies – what were their names again? Oh yeah, Sandfur, Orange-something, and Flowerstar."

Whitepaw stopped. He stared at me, his face showing pure terror. "This is not good."

"I – what happened?" Hareflight asked, coming up to us.

"This is _really_ not good," Whitepaw muttered to himself. "This is beyond bad. This" –

He looked up, suddenly realizing where he was. When he spoke, his voice was rough.

"Sweetsong, did you check around for Flamepaw's scent?"

"N-no," Sweetsong answered, startled.

"Then let's do that," Whitepaw meowed. "We'll go back and search for his scent, and what happened to him."

* * *

We searched for a while, trying to find what happened to Flamepaw. Finally, I caught his scent. It was leading out to the back of Clove's den. "Guys, I found it!"

"Where?" three voices demanded, and I saw Sweetsong, Hareflight, and Whitepaw running up to me. "Where'd you find him?"

"Out there!" I pointed out towards the – what did Hareflight call it? – door, where the scent trail was leading out. "I think they took him back to the Clans!"

"Should we search for him now?" Whitepaw asked, looking at us.

"No," said Hareflight, sounding grave. "We'll have to search for him tomorrow. There's no time now."

"No!" Sweetsong protested. "We came this far, and we're not turning back! We're going to look for him!"

"Sweetsong, we can't," Whitepaw insisted. "It's too far, and" –

Sweetsong began to cry.

"Sweetsong, it's okay," Hareflight said. "We'll find him."

"No," sniffed Sweetsong, "you don't understand. Whitepaw, you were right. I _do_ care about him! And now he's g-g-g-gone!" Her voice rose to a wail.

"Sweetsong!" protested Hareflight, evidently attempting to calm his sister.

Whitepaw stepped forward. "We're leaving now," he said. "Be _quiet_ , Sweetsong. You can cry all you want when we get back, but there might be a few stray Legion cats hanging around. We don't want to run into them."

Sweetsong sniffed and nodded. I led the way outside, ready to go back to the Clans. But then I froze.

The Legion cats still hadn't gone from the meadow. I could distinctly hear Luke's laugh from here.

"Those Clan cats are such fools," cackled Luke. "This is the perfect opportunity to take over their homes. While they're away, we'll go into their territory and have the lake all to ourselves!"

"YES!" the Legion yelled.

I turned to Hareflight. "Did you hear that?" I cried.

"Yes," said Hareflight, his face pale. "They'll go to RiverClan first, because it's the closest. The elders, queens, and kits will be unable to defend themselves"…

"We have to warn Sassafrasstar!" cried Whitepaw. We sped out back towards the Clans.

* * *

"Sassafrasstar!" I cried, running into the makeshift camp the Clans had set up. "We were" –

"Where have you been?" demanded Sassafrasstar. "You've been out somewhere and – what's _he_ doing here?"

Even before I turned around, I knew who she was talking about. Hareflight stared at Sassafrasstar, his expression wooden and stiff. Several cats were coming out to watch.

"I thought I told you to stay away from RiverClan," Sassafrasstar said coldly, glaring at the warrior.

"The Clans were in trouble. I had to help," Hareflight answered bravely.

"But you still came."

Another moment of silence. Then Hareflight lifted his chin and stared at Sassafrasstar. "I'm still a loyal warrior of RiverClan, even if you don't think I am. As a warrior, I swore to defend my Clan to the death, and that is what I'm going to do from now on. I know I betrayed RiverClan, but all I want is a second chance."

Sassafrasstar glared at Hareflight for a few minutes, not saying anything. Finally, she meowed, "Do _not_ go anywhere near the other Clans. And don't think I've forgotten. You may stay here, but only after I've decided what to do with you.

"Now what was it you wanted?" she added, turning to me.

"We were just near Clove and Talon's house," I said. "While we were there, we saw the Legion. They were making plans to settle near the lake, now that we're gone!"

"WHAT?" Crowstar bellowed.

"Are you saying that the Legion cats are going to go to the Clans and take over our land, while we're not there?" demanded Larkflight.

"We've got to stop them!" cried Whitestar.

"Let's plan an attack now!" Crowstar yelled.

"Calm down, please!" Oakleaf cried at the four leaders. "There will be no battle tonight."

They stopped and stared at Oakleaf. The other three medicine cats came behind him.

"Oakleaf's right," said Bluemist. "We have no energy now. We just fought for an entire day straight and lost. Some of our warriors are too injured for another battle just yet. We're waiting till tomorrow."

"But we're putting the queens, elders, and kits at risk!" exclaimed Sassafrasstar. Her whiskers were trembling in fear; clearly she'd forgotten Hareflight in the moment.

"They'll know we're coming for them. And we have our own warriors to take care of," said Oakleaf firmly. "And we can't just waltz in there without a battle plan. That's bound to fail."

Crowstar sighed. "All right," he said, reluctantly. "But we're going first thing tomorrow at sunhigh."

* * *

 _The next morning_

Waterpaw's POV

At dawn, Sweetsong, Hareflight, Swanpaw, Whitepaw, and I stood together, near the forest's edge. The day was dark, with no sign of sun although it was already late in the morning. The cloudiness seemed to reflect on everyone's mood.

"What happened with Flamepaw?" I demanded. "How exactly did he get captured?"

Hareflight shifted his paws uncomfortably and began to tell me the whole story. I listened in silence, not interrupting an entire word of what he said – that was, until he got to the part about Featherheart.

"She's here?" I gasped. "I thought she was the dead ShadowClan cat! But… why"…

"Apparently she used some dark magic to get back to the Clans," Hareflight said. "She's going to torture me now. I just know it."

"And you say Turtlepaw was working with her?"

"Apparently so," said Sweetsong grimly. "She and Featherheart both took Flamepaw away, and we really don't know what's going to happen now"… She couldn't finish.

I suddenly began to feel tears pricking at my eyes, but tried to force them away. Hareflight caught them immediately.

"Look, Waterpaw, I get that it's difficult, but" –

"She _betrayed_ me!" I screamed, cutting Hareflight off. "I can't believe she did this! She made that huge fuss about not being respected by her Clan, which she had no right to, since she's been a traitor this entire time! And I was stupid enough to believe her! I – I _loved_ her!"

This time, I didn't even bother to hide my tears. They were coming down so fast, it was not as if I could have stopped them, anyways.

"Waterpaw," said Whitepaw, looking truly shocked, "I" –

"And that's the thing," I said, cutting him off. "Since I care about her so much, I'm going to go find her and bring her back."

Hareflight gaped at me. Sweetsong stared at me. Swanpaw protested, "But Waterpaw, that's impossible. You can't turn her back."

"Whether or not I succeed, I'm going to try," I insisted. "I just have to."

"Waterpaw" –

"Swanpaw," I cut her off, "if Hareflight willingly went and joined the Legion, wouldn't you do everything you could to get him back?"

"Hareflight wouldn't do that!"

"But if he did," I pressed on, " _wouldn't_ you?"

Swanpaw stared at me for a while. Then she finally choked out, "Yes, I would."

"Then I'm going to go find Turtlepaw," I declared. "If she doesn't listen to me, then she's not going to listen to anyone else."

There was a long silence. I stared at Swanpaw, my eyes never leaving her. Then she finally nodded. "I understand."

"Well, you're not going alone," Sweetsong said firmly. "I'm coming with you."

I stared at Sweetsong in surprise. "With me?"

"Yes," she said. "I want to find Flamepaw. I'm coming with you."

"When are you going to leave?" Whitepaw finally asked.

"We should leave at sunhigh," Sweetsong said. "I think it'll be good, because it'll just be when you guys are leaving for RiverClan as well" –

"I think we should go now," I interrupted.

Hareflight started. "Now?"

"I'm serious," I said. "No one will notice us if we leave right now. We'll head towards the scent path they made and follow them towards, well, wherever they are."

Sweetsong nodded. "I think that's a good idea."

"Good luck," Hareflight said, coming up to nuzzle his sister.

Swanpaw stared at me. "Be careful," she said. "I just don't want you to get be hurt by Turtlepaw."

"She's already hurt me so much, nothing she does can make it worse," I replied.

"Let's go," Sweetsong said. "It's now or never."

"Bye!" I called to Hareflight, Swanpaw, and Whitepaw. The two of us pelted out of the glade into the forest, back towards the Clans.

* * *

Flamepaw's POV

I was stuck in a dark cave. Featherheart and Turtlepaw had taken me down a set of tunnels and thrown me in a cave by myself. I lay there, thinking about what had just happened.

I thought back to what I'd said to Sweetsong about Hareflight. I began to feel a prick of guilt in my stomach. Was it really fair to say all that about Hareflight? Sure, he'd made mistakes, but he had tried to make up for it, by attempting to save me. And he was clearly loyal to Swanpaw and to Sweetsong.

Really, I was no better than Turtlepaw for being angry with him. I had just about the same reasoning for hating Hareflight as she did. But I knew why I hated him. It was very simple.

 _I still miss Eaglekit_ , I thought. _No matter what happens, no cat can take that bond away from us_.

I remembered what Eaglekit had told me about having to move on with my life. At first, I'd been angry with him, thinking that there was no way I could live a happy life in RiverClan without him. But I realized I had never stopped to think about his feelings. Wasn't it just as hard for him to give me up as the other way around? And had he regretted his decision just as much as I had?

Just as I was thinking about this, I heard pawsteps in the other cave. I pricked my ears to listen.

It was the sound of Sandfur and Flowerstar walking into the cave. They were arguing in hushed tones, but not so softly that I couldn't hear them.

"I say we put Flamepaw in a deep sleep and hold him as ransom," Flowerstar was saying. "We should call Sassafrasstar down here to collect Flamepaw. She'll come down here, worried for her son. Then we'll capture and torture her, thus completing our revenge."

"What's the point in getting Sassafrasstar down here?" asked Sandfur. "Nothing we could do to her would hurt her as much as what we could to do Flamepaw. We've got him right _here_ , for Dark Forest's sake. Let's do something to him. She'll be devastated."

"No, we need Sassafrasstar down here," snapped Flowerstar. "I want to see that wannabe Clan leader suffer."

"She's not going to come," insisted Sandfur. "She's got her own battles to fight. There's the Legion, remember? We can still put Flamepaw in a deep sleep, while we decide what to do with him. But we're not going to get Sassafrasstar here. There's just no way."

"Fine," snapped Flowerstar. "We'll go with your idea. But you are really starting to test my patience, Sandfur. You forget who's leader here."

"Well, if I hadn't gotten Eaglekit in our plans, we wouldn't be here now. So don't complain at me just because I have all the good ideas."

 _Eaglekit?_ I thought, shocked. _How is Eaglekit involved in their plans?_

This couldn't be. It just _couldn't_ be. Why would Eaglekit join the side of Flowerstar and Sandfur, knowing it would only get him into trouble?

At that moment, I heard someone come into the den. Flattening my ears, I looked up, and froze.

Sandfur was standing in the den's entrance, a curved, twisted smile in his face. He came up to me. I tried to get up, but he shoved me down, placing his paws on my back.

"Long time no see, _son_."

We stared at each other for a while. My thoughts were in a jumbled mess, refusing to think properly. Is he going to put me to sleep now?

"How did you get Eaglekit involved?" I managed to say. "What has he got to do with this?"

Sandfur stopped and stared at me. "How much of my conversation with Flowerstar did you listen to?"

"Well"… I hesitated. "All of it. But you weren't exactly being discrete about it, you know."

Sandfur smirked. "Then you know what is to happen."

"You didn't answer my question," I said boldly. "What did you do to Eaglekit?"

"I did nothing to him," Sandfur answered dismissively. "He's a stupid whiny kit who was eager to follow us. He helped us come down here."

"But why? Why did you" –

"You ask too many questions," Sandfur said quietly. For a moment, I thought I saw a spark of pain in his eyes at the mention of Eaglekit. But it went away as quickly as it'd come. "It doesn't matter. There's nothing you can do about it now."

"What? I'm not letting you do this!"

"Really?" Sandfur purred. "I _did_ say you'd regret not joining me when the time comes." He stood up, glaring at me. "And it's going to happen now."

Another bubble appeared around me, but this time it was black, not purple. I screamed as a sharp jolt of pain went down my spine.

"Surrender!" Sandfur snarled. "You belong to me now, Flamepaw! You will do as I say!"

"I _won't_!" I tried to kick my way out of the bubble, but it was no use. The pain became even stronger with every second.

Eventually, the pain became so strong that I collapsed, gaining unconsciousness even before my head hit the floor.

* * *

 **Well, that was intense. Get ready, the next chapters are going to be even more intense…**

 **So StarClan isn't the big paradise it's made out to be. Not to get all political, but the way I see StarClan, it's sort of like a communist society where they give you everything you need (in this case, food and comfort), but the government takes control of your life. Yeah, I'm against communism. Also, I'm a big fan of restorative justice and I thought it would be interesting to discuss that in a** ** _Warriors'_** **setting.**

 **Well, as a full-time member of the StarClan Haterz Association (and anyone who's read WCFA knows this), I actually really** ** _want_** **the Dark Forest cats to win this, but for the sake of the Greater Plotline, they won't.**

 **Next chapter:**

 **\- A new battle tactic is made, and the Clans march into battle against the Legion.**

 **\- Sweetsong and Waterpaw come across Eaglekit and Waterkit on their journey to find Flamepaw.**

 **\- The Clan cats are met with a surprise at RiverClan camp.**

 **AOTD 1: ****I'm definitely on Team Flamepaw for this one. I thought Sweetsong was being way too emotional. Yeah, Flamepaw was a jerk, but he had good reason; Hareflight, after all,** ** _was_** **involved in Eaglekit's death.**

 **AOTD 2:** **Well, it just happened in the previous chapter, so I don't need to answer this.**

 **QOTD:** **Do you have any New Year's Resolutions or predictions for 2017?**


	40. Chapter 36: The Quest Begins

**I generally don't ever update on weekdays. But today was an extremely rare day when I didn't have homework at all. Probably one of the first times this has ever happened.**

* * *

CHAPTER 36: THE QUEST BEGINS

 _At sunhigh_

Hareflight's POV

I sat down on the grass, staring at my paws. It had been a long morning. All of the other cats were doing a job, such as helping the wounded and collecting herbs, but I had done absolutely nothing. Sassafrasstar clearly didn't trust me enough to let me do anything.

"Hareflight."

My eyes snapped up. I saw my father, Goldensun, in front of me. My heart trembled with excitement, which quickly changed to ice as I saw the look he was giving me. Not of anger, not of pain, but… disappointment. That was all I could see in his eyes.

"I heard about your betrayal," Goldensun said.

I nodded slowly.

"Why did you do it?" Goldensun asked softly. "Why? And why couldn't you tell me about it?"

"I – I don't know," I answered wildly.

Goldensun didn't speak for a while, which worried me even more. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore and blurted out, "I'm sorry I disappointed you!"

"I'm not disappointed," he meowed, taking me by surprise. "I'm just thinking. Back when I was an apprentice – no, back when I was a _warrior_ , I did many stupid things."

"Like what?"

"I didn't trust my brother, Bluemist," Goldensun replied. "I was always jealous of him because I thought he had everything. He was the clever one, the one with all the friends, the one who had a path as a medicine cat. But no cat ever trusted me, because I was blind.

"So the jealousy turned into what I thought was justified anger when a StarClan warrior, Darkshadow, gave me a false prophecy saying that I would have to kill Bluemist."

I gasped in horror. "So what happened?"

"It took me a while, but I realized the prophecy was false," he said. "And I realized that I could be just as good as my brother. Instead of being jealous and arrogant, I just had to serve my Clan."

He turned back to me. "The point I'm trying to make is we've all done stupid things. I almost betrayed the cats I loved – and to some extent, my Clan. But are you going to let it stay with you, or are you going to do something about it?"

"I'll make it up to the Clan," I declared. "I'm going to fight in the battle, no matter what Sassafrasstar says. As long as I am alive, RiverClan will be safe!"

Goldensun smiled. "You'll make me proud," he said, his voice hoarse and rough.

* * *

Swanpaw's POV

"Attention!" Whitestar shouted to the Clans. "It is time for the final battle to begin. This time around, we have planned a better battle tactic to ensure victory."

It was almost time to go back to Clan territory. Almost all of us were going back, except for the few cats who were too badly injured to fight. They were in Talon's den, being looked after by Mistfur.

"Before we start," Larkflight said, "can I make an announcement?" She looked down at the Clans. "I have decided that Gingerspike will be the deputy of ShadowClan." She looked down at the ginger she-cat. "Gingerspike, do you accept?"

"Y-yes," the she-cat answered, looking surprised but honored. "I'll do my best."

"Gingerspike! Gingerspike!" the Clans yelled.

"Now since that's settled," said Crowstar, "Whitestar, tell them about the plan we came up with."

"We came up with the same circle tactic RiverClan came up with to defeat ShadowClan," said Whitestar. "We will send a first patrol of warriors in, and have them surrounded by Legion cats. Then we'll get a second, larger patrol in, to surround the Legion cats. They'll be surrounded on both sides and forced to surrender."

"Unfortunately," Sassafrasstar continued, "the first group sent in will have more causalities, which is why we're asking for volunteers. We advise only senior warriors to volunteer for this group. No apprentices will be allowed to volunteer."

"Anyone who's volunteering, stand by the bush," Crowstar said.

There came a silence. None of the cats seemed willing to volunteer. Then some senior warriors got up and sat by the bush.

"I volunteer!" Hareflight suddenly yowled. I stared at him. _What is he doing?_ Hareflight wasn't even that good of a fighter! Why was he putting himself in trouble? Several cats were also murmuring, staring at him.

"Wait a minute," Sassafrasstar stopped. "Why are _you_ joining? Did I say you could join the battle? In fact, did I even say you could be part of RiverClan _at all_?"

It became silent. Hareflight stared at Sassafrasstar, pain brimming in his eyes. As much as I hated seeing Hareflight being ridiculed in front of all of the Clans, I secretly hoped that he wouldn't be able to join the patrol. It would only put him in danger.

Goldensun stepped forward. "Sassafrasstar, you should let him join," he said. "He's proven himself."

"By doing _what_?" Sassafrasstar demanded. "He has not done anything to prove himself since we exiled him! Let him stay at Talon's home!"

"Sassafrasstar, you have my word that he will not do anything to harm our mission," Goldensun answered. "I just spoke to him this morning, and I trust him."

"Look, I know he's your son, but" –

"Let him go," Whitestar interrupted.

"What?"

"You heard me," Whitestar's voice became rough and tired. "I really don't want to deal with any more drama right now. Just let him go."

"But" –

"Listen, _I'm_ alliance leader here, and I made the decisions," Whitestar snapped. "Stop and think for a second. If he were spying on us for the Legion, would they really send him to our camp, a spot where we could easily kill him in about two seconds? No. They'd be more discrete about it and actually use him as a proper spy. So no, he's not going to turn traitor on us in the middle of battle. If anything, we can use him _against_ the Legion, because some of the Legion cats might be a bit confused if Hareflight on our side, instead of theirs."

I stared at Whitestar in shock. I didn't think I'd ever seen him this opinionated, or aggressive. _He must be really worn out after this battle._

Soon, enough cats had volunteered for the first patrol. They were mostly RiverClan cats, obviously because the Legion cats would have reached our camp first and they wanted to be the first to defend it. There were some ShadowClan and WindClan cats, but few from ThunderClan.

"We will all go together," said Sassafrasstar. "Once we reach the southern border, the first patrol will march ahead. The second patrol will hang back for some time, then follow the first patrol."

"Sassafrasstar and Crowstar will lead the first patrol," said Larkflight. "Whitestar and I will lead the second. Bluemist and Mapleleaf will also go with the first patrol, and Oakleaf will go with the second."

As they were finalizing their plans, I ran up to Hareflight. "What are you doing?" I whispered, panicked. "No offense, but you're not that good of a fighter! Why are you putting yourself through this?"

"I have to prove myself to the Clan," he said. "And I made a promise to Goldensun. I'm going to make it up to RiverClan, or die trying."

I stared at him in alarm. "Hareflight, you _can't_! Let me come with you!"

"Whitestar said no apprentices," he said, starting to sound annoyed. "Swanpaw, stop doubting me, okay? Geez, you sound like Frostheart. Always telling me what I can and can't do."

My mind reeled with shock. I sounded like _Frostheart_? Had he really just said that? Then the shock turned into anger. "Hey, you take that back!"

"We're starting now!" I heard Whitestar yowl. "First and second patrols, come with us!" Hareflight gave me one last irritated look, then stormed off with the patrol.

I glared at him, then kicked over a pebble as I followed my Clanmates, but made sure to keep a distance from Hareflight. _Fine!_ If he wanted to behave that way, then let him. I wasn't going to bother helping him. He was on his own.

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

Waterpaw's POV

We had reached the RiverClan southern border. We were careful not to walk into Clan territory, because the Legion cats would stop us. Flamepaw's scent, thankfully, didn't go anywhere into Clan territory and we only had to contend with walking by the border.

"You _sure_ we're not going to run into Legion cats?" I asked.

"This is the thousandth time you've asked," she said, sounding annoyed. "And no, I don't think we will."

"I really hope you know what you're doing," I grumbled. "This isn't going to be like the time when you and Flamepaw went into ShadowClan territory and got lost, is it?"

I immediately wished I hadn't said that; Sweetsong's fur ruffled and she hung her head, looking upset. Clearly bringing Flamepaw up was enough to upset her.

"Look I didn't mean it like that," I began, "but" –

"I know _exactly_ what you meant," she said curtly, thrusting her nose up into the air and storming ahead of me.

I groaned. _She-cats!_ Why was Sweetsong being so moody? I was upset about Flamepaw, too, but I wasn't crying buckets because of it.

Suddenly, I heard a rustle behind me. I froze and turned around to see who it was. Instead, I saw nothing. So I relaxed and continued on with Sweetsong. But I still felt uncomfortable.

"Shh," Sweetsong hissed, stopping in front of me. "I scent some Legion cats nearby. Listen, just be quiet for now, so we don't get caught" –

"Too late," a voice behind us said. "You already have been."

I screeched as I felt another cat barrel straight into me.

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

Hareflight's POV

We drew to a halt at the RiverClan southern border. This was it. This was where we would separate.

I grumbled as I thought of what Swanpaw had said to me. What did she think I was, three moons old? I was _older_ than her! Why did she think that I needed her to protect me all the time?

But the worst thing was, a part of me knew she was right. I had always needed her protection, ever since we were apprentices. She had defended me against Greennose, Heronclaw, Frostheart, and Roseleaf. But now I was a warrior. It was time I was there to protect _her_ , instead of the other way around.

"First patrol, march on forward!" Sassafrasstar called. "Listen, this is our plan. We do not want any of the Legion cats to smell us coming, so I want everyone to get into the water and swim. We do not want to pass by any Legion cats while going to camp, so we'll swim all the way to camp."

I gasped. There was no way I wanted to swim in the freezing water!

"Is she serious?" whispered Whitepaw, next to me. "I don't even know how to swim!"

I looked at him sympathetically. Although the leaders had initially said "no apprentices", Whitepaw, being a medicine cat, was told to come. He had been scared to come with us, but Mistfur was staying with the injured cats and we needed all the medicine cats we could get.

"But Sassafrasstar, not every cat here is of RiverClan," Crowstar pointed out. "I don't think this is a good idea."

"The non-RiverClan cats don't have to swim, then," Sassafrasstar answered. "But walk alongside the river. And get wet so that no Legion cat catches your scent."

The ShadowClan, ThunderClan, and WindClan cats looked disgusted, but they did as Sassafrasstar asked. Whitepaw joined them on the banks. I reluctantly lowered myself into the cold water, wincing every second. I knew how to swim of course, but Wildwater had taught me back in greenleaf, so I was out of practice.

"Let's start!" Goldensun, who was leading the charge down the river, shouted. I swam with the group, trying not to let the cold water affect me.

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

Sweetsong's POV

"Waterpaw!" I gasped as the she-cat ran straight into him. He screeched and raked his attacker's belly, in an attempt to get her off of him.

I took a closer look at the she-cat who, except for a few wounds, looked very familiar… "Kettle," I gasped, unsheathing my claws. "You little"…

"Nice to meet you, _not_ ," Kettle bared her teeth. Waterpaw unsheathed his claws, looking as if he were ready to kill Kettle.

"You should know better than to come here," I meowed. "We're not going to let you get away with everything you've done. It was a stupid idea to come here alone."

"I'm _not_ alone," smirked Kettle. "Willie, come over here!"

The gray tabby she-cat flew to Kettle's side and glared at us. "This is our territory now," she snarled. "Stay off of it."

"Oh yeah?" Waterpaw shot back. "It's Clan territory and it will never belong to the Legion. And how do you expect to stop us?"

"Watch your ego, kit," Willie warned. "It's still two against two and we're bigger and stronger than you are."

I looked at Waterpaw helplessly as the two circled around us. She was right. I might be able to fight them, since I was a warrior, but Waterpaw was only an apprentice. We were done for.

"Actually, it's _four_ against two now!"

I snapped my head up and turned around. Behind me, two cats were running towards us. One of them was a cream-and-brown tom-kit with olive green eyes. _Eaglekit!_ I reeled back in shock. _What in StarClan's name is he doing here? Did he come back from the dead like Featherheart? And… how?_ Beside me, Waterpaw was gasping, staring at Eaglekit as if he were some deadly apparition from the Dark Forest.

Kettle took one good look at them and burst out laughing.

"A bunch of _kits_?" she gasped. "Oh no! Whatever will we do next?"

"Shut up," Eaglekit retorted. "Why, you" –

"Why what?" asked Kettle, still laughing. "What are you going to do to us, kit? Fight us and make us"…

Suddenly, a bold streak of light flashed across Eaglekit's face. It lasted for only a second, but in that second, his and Waterkit's bodies were illuminated with pure light. Kettle and Willie yowled in shock, stepping back.

 _It's a sign from StarClan!_ I realized. _They're trying to scare the Legion cats!_

"What are you?" Willie gasped, her eyes the size of two moons. "Are you s-supernatural creatures or… _ghosts_?"

"You could say that," responded Waterkit, lazily.

"Run!" cried Kettle and Willie at the same time. They ran north, towards the swamp.

"AFTER THEM!" Waterkit roared, and the four of us took off running. Kettle and Willie were extremely fast, be we had the territory to our advantage. I knew a shortcut which we could go through we could avoid the swamp and go directly to the horseplace.

"Why are we going this way?" Waterpaw hissed, struggling to keep pace with me and talk at the same time. "We're going to run into Legion cats!"

"Shh!" I hissed at them. "Look, Willie and Kettle are headed to the swamp. If you don't know the territory well, and if you're in a panic and running away from a 'ghost', there's a pretty good chance that you'll get stuck in a bog. Once they do, we'll rush out and kill them before they can escape."

"Sounds brutal, even for them," Waterpaw responded. "And what if they _don't_ get stuck in a bog?"

"Then we can confront them right here," I answered.

Suddenly, we heard an ear-splitting shriek from the swamp. "Help!" we heard Willie's cry. "I'm stuck!" My heart raced with anticipation, knowing what had happened. "Let's go!" I shouted, running to the swamp.

Kettle and Willie were stuck in a bog. They were screaming and shouting, unable to understand how they could be stuck like this. _Idiots!_ I thought scornfully. _Don't you know that when you get pulled in by the swamp, the_ last _thing you want to do is to attempt to pull yourself out! You're supposed to lie still and wait for someone to help you out!_ Of course, we weren't going to help them. We were going to kill them.

I unsheathed my claws, looking straight at Kettle. She was going first. I was going to kill one of the cats who had captured me and made Hareflight join as a spy of the Legion. I ran up to Kettle and bared my teeth, holding them straight at her neck.

"STOP!" Eaglekit suddenly shrieked. "You can't do this!"

Surprised, I turned around and stared at Eaglekit. "But she's done so much wrong! Don't you think justice should be served?"

"Revenge is getting us nowhere," said Eaglekit firmly. "If you kill her in that way, you are no better than the Legion, you are no better than the Dark Forest cats!"

"But"…

"I have to agree with Eaglekit," Waterkit said, speaking up. "That's cruel. You can't kill a cat who is defenseless to save herself."

"But that's how they killed Eaglekit!"

"So?" Eaglekit was struggling to speak. "Let her go, Sweetsong. I really don't want to fight this battle right now."

I stared at him, then turned around to face Kettle. "Hold still," I instructed. Grabbing her by the scruff of his neck, I pulled her out from the bog. I saw Waterpaw doing the same to Willie.

"What are we going to do with them, then?" I asked angrily.

Waterkit turned to Kettle and Willie. "Get out of here," she said. "I don't care where you go, but you are _not_ going back to the Legion. And you are certainly not going to harm anyone in the Clans ever again. Got it?"

Looking frightened, both she-cats nodded.

"Then go," responded Waterkit. The two Legion cats gave us one terrified look, and then fled.

I looked over at Eaglekit, a little more than stunned. "Why did you do that?"

"I just realized that everything Sandfur, Orangefoot, Featherheart, and Flowerstar have done are all because of bitterness," he said quietly. "They think that getting revenge is going to satisfy their anger, which of course won't.

"We can't be like them," agreed Waterkit. "We have to be the better cats and, as they say, 'kill them with kindness'."

"How do you know they're not going to march right back here and kill someone?" I challenged.

"They won't," answered Waterkit confidently. "Not if they think there are 'ghosts' in the area."

"Look, we're wasting time. Are we going to find the Dark Forest cats or not?" asked Waterpaw.

"Sure," I responded. "Waterpaw's and my plan was to go to find Flamepaw. We assume he's with the Dark Forest" –

"Flamepaw?" gasped Eaglekit. "What's _he_ got to do with this?"

"He's been captured by the Dark Forest cats," answered Waterpaw. "We have to go rescue him."

"Let's go!" cried Waterkit. "Fill us in on the way there."

We raced out of RiverClan's territory and continued following Flamepaw's scent line.

* * *

 _Meanwhile..._

Hareflight's POV

"We're here," Sassafrasstar announced to us. I gulped nervously. I was very nervous about meeting these cats, this time in battle, but I knew this was the only way I could prove to RiverClan my value as a warrior.

"Let's go," whispered Crowstar. We crept to the entrance of the camp and every one of us went in, single-filed. I gulped at what I saw.

The RiverClan camp was a mess. The elders' den was wrecked, and I caught a foul odor from the medicine den. _Did they mess up our herbs?_

Amongst the crowd of Legion cats, I saw Soot, standing by Luke's side. _They must have freed him from the prison! Where are Greennose and Heronclaw?_ Were _they_ now prisoners?

Several Legion cats turned around to stare at us. "Luke!" I heard one of them shouting. "They've come!"

Luke turned around, surprised, but smiled evilly. "So you caught on to my trick," he laughed. "I was hoping you'd come when I'd spread more cats around the lake, but this is fine too."

"You'll pay for this!" Crowstar yowled. "We're here to stop you!"

"Oh?" Luke raised a whisker. "Then why do you have so few cats in your patrol? Did so many cats get injured in the battle?" He let out a laugh.

It was true. Many of our cats _did_ get injured, and I knew some of us here weren't in the best condition to fight. But looking at the Legion cats, I realized they had taken a hit as well. Many of them were also injured. And from what I could see, I didn't think there were any medicine cats for the Legion.

"You can't do anything," said Sassafrasstar fiercely. "You have no power here, Luke. You can't do anything that's going to hurt me or my Clan."

Luke glared at her. "I'd be careful before making that threat, Sassafrasstar." He leaned to his deputy. "Get the kits, Soot!"

Soot nodded and darted into the nursery. A moment later, I heard him saying, "Come with me."

"You're not going to hurt us, are you?" I heard Ravenkit's nervous voice. "Aren't you those bad guys Mommy told me about?"

"What's going on?" Mistkit whimpered.

I heard several of the cats around me gasp. They were threatening the kits! _Stop!_ I wanted to scream. But there was nothing I could do to stop Soot and Jasper from leading them out of the nursery and right in front of us.

I watched Ravenkit's expression slowly change from fear to absolute panic as Jasper unsheathed his claws, placing them directly at the kit's neck.

* * *

 **I know what I'm going to say here will sound really annoying, considering that I have a ton of reviews for this story, but I've noticed some of you guys don't review that often anymore. You don't need to feel shy! I like to hear from you guys. Some of the ways you reviewers analyze this story are really clever, things I wouldn't have thought of myself. Not that I don't appreciate all the reviews I have already, but it's just a bit redundant when only two people review per chapter. So go ahead and review to your heart's content! You'd be surprised how much we authors look forward to your reviews; we look forward to them as much as you guys look forward to our updates.**

 **I'm actually going to post a lot of chapters now, so there's two more coming up after this for today.**


	41. Chapter 37: Battle at RiverClan Camp

CHAPTER 37: BATTLE AT RIVERCLAN CAMP

Waterpaw's POV

… "So what are we going to do?" asked Waterkit.

The four of us sat by a tunnel entrance, watching the sun set as we deliberated our next plan of action. It was one of the Ancient Tunnels, the network of tunnels which was between WindClan and ThunderClan. From what we could tell, Flamepaw's scent led all the way down there. We would have to confront the Dark Forest cats in the tunnels.

I gulped. I was terrified of the mere thought of confronting creepy dead cats in a suffocating, underground space. But that was nothing compared to what I was thinking about Turtlepaw.

How was I going to confront Turtlepaw? How would I tell her what she was doing was wrong? Would I have the stomach to even do it? And worse of all, what if she didn't listen to me?

But I knew this was what I had to do. I _had_ to get Turtlepaw away from these evil cats, and make sure that she knew what she was doing was wrong. Then we'd find Flamepaw, and get out of this mess.

At least, so we hoped.

"We're going to settle this peacefully," said Eaglekit. "I'll do all the talking, okay? I'll convince Sandfur what he's doing is wrong. Then we can convince the other Dark Forest cats as well."

"Yeah, right," snorted Sweetsong. "That's not going to work. The only way out of this is fighting."

"Fighting?" Waterkit let out a shriek of hysterical laughter. "Listen, we have one warrior, one apprentice, and two kits. How exactly do you expect to _fight_ a group of experienced warriors?"

"As you just said a few minutes ago, we'll 'kill them with kindness'," piped up Eaglekit.

"Listen, this whole thing about hurting others with compassion is stupid," Sweetsong said suddenly. "Why would you want to be nice to them? They just captured your brother, one of them tried to kill _my_ brother, and another one of them betrayed you! Do you really think you can be _nice_ to them and we'll all live happily after?"

"No," answered Eaglekit. "But I _do_ know that using force against them is the wrong thing to do. A year back, Sassafrasstar and her friends defeated Sandfur, Orangefoot, and Flowerstar and they were sent to the Dark Forest. And now they're coming back for revenge." His eyes flashed. "Don't think we can just kill them and that's it. Then they'll come back again. And again. As many times as it takes to finish us off."

… "Then what do you think we can do?" I asked finally.

"I'm going down there to convince Sandfur to drop this whole act," answered Eaglekit. "I'm not going to do it with claws, or with teeth. I'm going to do it with words." He sounded more confident now.

"You think he's actually going to listen to you?" Sweetsong was still skeptical.

"I _know_ he will," answered Eaglekit. "I can feel it."

"Then we haven't a minute to lose," declared Waterkit. "It's time to go." She led the way down the tunnel.

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

Whitepaw's POV

"Mommy!" cried Ravenkit, looking absolutely panicked. "Help!" Beside him, Mistkit was watching the scene in terror, looking desperate to help Ravenkit but not knowing how. "Ravenkit!" yelled Briarthorn, while Dappledflower glared at Sassafrasstar. "Do something! Save our kits!"

"My cats are ready to attack," Sassafrasstar snarled, glaring at Luke. "At the simple flick of a tail, they will crush you and your Legion." She lifted her tail, about to signal attack, but Jasper stopped her.

"Make one move and the kit is dead!" yowled Jasper, pressing his claws on Ravenkit's tail. A few drops of blood fell down and he screeched. "You're next in line," he added to Mistkit, who was trembling.

I don't know what I was thinking. All I remember was the rage I felt, seeing these poor kits being bullied by the Legionaires. In a flash, I remembered the time when Sweetsong and I had been taken by the Legion. It was one thing to kidnap an apprentice, who, although they didn't have much battle training, wasn't completely defenseless. It was another thing to threaten the life of an innocent kit. Back when Luke had taken me to his Legion, I had accepted, since I really had no other choice.

I knew now I had changed a lot. Ever since escaping the Legion, I'd become less scared of everything and more sure of myself. But just seeing how scared Mistkit and Ravenkit were of the Legion cats reminded me of myself. I couldn't let Soot or Jasper harm Mistkit or Ravenkit. I just couldn't.

I began to run towards Jasper. He was so focused on Ravenkit and Mistkit, he didn't even see me coming. He gasped in surprise as I shoved Ravenkit out of Soot's grasp, pushing the kits away from him, wildly.

"GET HIM!" roared Luke. Soot was one of the fastest cats in the Legion, and I was no match for his speed. He slammed into me full-force, and I tumbled to the ground. "Run, kits!" I screamed. They stared at me, but when I gave them a glare, they took off running to Briarthorn and Dappledflower.

 _Was this how Frostheart felt just before she died?_ I thought.

Soot pinned me down, a smirk on his face. "You thought you could esssscape from me?" he laughed. "You may have ssssaved those kits, but you're going to paaaaaaay for it." He sank his claws into my back.

"No!" cried Mistkit. "Don't! He saved us!" She began to sob hysterically.

"ATTACK!" roared Sassafrasstar, and the Clan cats launched into battle.

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

Eaglekit's POV

"Just this way," said Waterkit, leading the way.

I tasted the air. The scent of the Dark Forest cats was getting stronger. At any moment, we'd be arriving right at their lair…

"Long time no see," a cold voice rang.

Suddenly, a light shone in the room. After being in the dark for so long, the brightness was unbearable. I screeched and buried my eyes in my paws. Finally, when I had the courage to look, I lifted my head up and stared straight ahead.

The Dark Forest cats looked exactly as how I'd remembered them in StarClan. The only difference was that Flowerstar had bite-marks on her neck and Orangefoot had claw-marks on his shoulder. I realized they were scars from their previous life.

"Who's there?" Flowerstar's sweet voice floated out to us. "Waterkit, Sweetsong, Waterpaw, and Eaglekit…" Her voice drifted off and she stared at me in shock for a moment. Then she whirled to Sandfur.

"He followed us here!" she screamed. "I cannot believe you! You promised he wouldn't be smart enough to follow us! You PROMISED!"

"I didn't realize"… Sandfur began, but Featherheart cut him off.

"Why does it matter?" she grumbled. "If you ask me, it's a good thing he's here. We can finish him off along with the rest of them losers."

I barely heard Featherheart; everything stopped registering in my brain after what Flowerstar said. _Did Sandfur really say that about me?_ How could he do this?

"Sandfur!" I choked out. "How _could_ you?"

Sandfur stopped and stared at me, his amber eyes emotionless. Behind him, Orangefoot and Flowerstar were muttering. I ignored them and stepped forward.

"Why did you lie to me?" I asked. "I thought you cared about me! How could you have told me your plans to come down here were for good? All you're going to do is wreak havoc against the Clans!"

I heard Waterpaw's and Sweetsong's gasps of shock; they didn't know I was involved with Sandfur. Waterkit tried to say something to me but I ignored her.

This was all about Sandfur, right now. The rest of the world could wait. I just had to speak with him.

"Eaglekit," he said, "I have a proposal to you: you can join us as a part of our group and help us with our revenge. If you do that, I'll let your friends go away unharmed."

" _What_?" shrieked Flowerstar. " _I'm_ the one in charge here, Sandfur! Stop making decisions without me!"

"Flowerstar" –

"I've had enough of this, Sandfur!" Flowerstar snarled. "You and your stupid ideas. You're turning into one of those soft-hearted Clan cats!"

"But" –

"From this point onwards, you are EXPELLED from our group!" Flowerstar roared. "Leave right now, I don't want to see you ever again!"

"You can't abandon me," Sandfur whirled around to face Flowerstar. "I'm the one who did all the planning, and it worked, didn't it? Eaglekit's the reason why we're here in the first place!"

"Well, I'm still leader," Flowerstar shot back. "I used to be supreme ruler of the Clans. I'm more powerful than you, and always will be. You've always been trying to undermine me, but no more. I will show you who's boss!"

Sandfur glared at Flowerstar, an injured look in his eyes. "Well, you depend on me," he snarled. "You depended on me to build the Nightmare Den, and you depended on me for the master plan. Don't come crying back to me when it fails."

It happened so fast I would have missed it if I'd blinked. Flowerstar roared at Sandfur and unsheathed her claws. She ran straight at him, slashing him across the spine and tail. Sandfur yowled, but he was no match for her. Flowerstar sank her teeth into his throat once, and stepped back. Blood coated Sandfur's fur as he fell, the life seeping out of him. He began to slowly fade away.

"Do you swear your loyalty to me? Or will you die like Sandfur?" Flowerstar flashed at Featherheart and Orangefoot, a furious look on her face. Both Orangefoot and Featherheart nodded, looking terrified.

I stared back at the others. They looked as stunned as I was.

"Now then," snarled Flowerstar, "that was a very _touching_ moment, but we really need to move on, hmm?" She circled around us. "We want our revenge."

"Sorry, Eaglekit," muttered Waterpaw as I stood frozen, trying to register what had just happened. "Looks like your idea of a peaceful end to this isn't going to happen."

For a moment, the air was so tense, even a kitten-step could be heard. Flowerstar stared straight at us for a long time.

After what felt like moons, Flowerstar nodded. She raised her tail, unsheathed her claws, and simply meowed, "Attack."

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

Swanpaw's POV

Our second patrol had just arrived at the RiverClan camp. We stood outside, waiting for the signal from Whitestar to send us into battle.

At the flick of his tail, we rushed forward and barricaded the surprised Legion warriors, who once again had been overcome by our reinforcement tactic. I looked around, trying to find someone to fight.

To my shock, I saw Whitepaw grappling with Soot. He was struggling to hold his own up, the Legion warrior being much stronger than him. In addition, he had barely any training compared to Soot. I immediately ran up to them, shoving my brother out of the way.

"You _monster_!" I gasped, leaping in front of Whitepaw. "I will make you pay for what you just did to Whitepaw! Injuring a medicine cat! How dare you?"

Soot glared at me. "The Legion doesssn't care for your ssssilly medicine cats and healersss," he said coolly. "We can manage fine withouuut one."

With a roar of fury, I ducked under him, almost causing Soot to fall over. But he recovered and held me down.

"You're going to regrrrret this," he laughed, raking his claws into my spine.

"Swanpaw!" Whitepaw gasped feebly. "I'm coming!" But he lay still, unable to move from his position.

"No you'rrrre not," answered Soot. "When I'm done with her, you'rrrrre next." He laughed evilly and closed his mouth around my neck.

But before he could bite down, I saw a flash of white in front of me. My head hit the ground as Whitepaw reared over me, and Soot fell on top of me, unconscious. Gasping in pain, I lay still, the wounds on my back and neck stinging with every second. Then I remembered where I was.

"Whitepaw!" I gasped, looking over. Whitepaw lay still on the ground, his white fur stained with blood. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," panted Whitepaw. "I was wounded in both of my ears."

I looked at them, and checked him over. He had one deep gash in his flank, and more claw-marks along his back. But the big problem was with his ears. A torn ear always looked worse than it actually was, but it was also a major problem in blood loss.

"Let's go to Bluemist," I said, helping my brother up. We both walked shakily over to where he, Oakleaf, and Mapleleaf were standing, dragging Soot with us.

"Are you both all right?" gasped Mapleleaf, drawing me in. She chewed up marigold poultice and laid it over the claw-marks in my back.

"That was the stupidest thing I've ever seen," Bluemist said sternly to Whitepaw.

"What?" I asked.

"You didn't see?" asked Oakleaf. "Oh yeah, you were on the second patrol. He leapt in front of Soot to rescue Mistkit and Ravenkit. They were threatening the kits, and he was desperate to save them."

"Wow," I gasped, staring at Whitepaw.

"What are we going to do with Soot?" asked Mapleleaf, taking notice of the tom. He was lying unconscious on the ground, only barely breathing.

Bluemist stepped forward and placed his teeth at Soot's neck. "This is for everything you've done," he said quietly. "For all the lives the Legion took yesterday."

And then he bit down.

Soot breathed once, then lay still. Whitepaw and I stared at each other for a moment.

"He's a killer," said Bluemist grimly, stepping back. "If we'd kept him as prisoner, he probably would have caused even more trouble."

Oakleaf was the first to speak. "Well, that's one problem taken care of."

I laughed shakily, thinking of how we had desperately launched ourselves into battle with the intent of saving RiverClan. This had to work. We had to win.

If not, then… I had no idea what we were going to do.

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

Waterpaw's POV

Across from me, Sweetsong fought Flowerstar, and Waterkit and Eaglekit fought Orangefoot. So far, the battle was actually not going as badly as I'd thought. Even Waterkit and Eaglekit were doing well, though that was really because the Dark Forest cats had been severely weakened while coming to the living world, and Orangefoot wasn't particularly smart of an opponent. Then again, Waterkit and Eaglekit had also been weakened, but they'd never had any fighting skills to begin with, so it didn't really matter.

Featherheart sprang in front of me, holding me down with a paw. I twisted and managed to bite it. Blood seeped out and she shrieked, immediately withdrawing back.

"You imbecile," she hissed at me. "I know who you are. You're Hareflight's friend. And you've come to justify what he's done, right? You've come to stop our plans!"

"I'm not justifying anyone!" I protested. "But yes, I've come to stop your plans. You will not get your revenge!"

Featherheart opened her mouth to speak, but then suddenly, I heard someone coming out from the entrance to the cave. I looked over Featherheart's shoulder, and froze.

Turtlepaw was coming out from the cave, a solemn expression on her face. She was dragging something along with her. In shock, I realized it was Flamepaw. He was lying deathly still, with his legs pinned under him.

"FLAMEPAW!" Eaglekit's screech rang through the air.

"What have you done to him?" cried Sweetsong.

"He's not dead," said Flowerstar cruelly. "But he _will_ be if you don't surrender."

"NO!" Eaglekit roared, spitting in her face. "We will do no such thing! Please! We don't want to fight! I just want my brother to be okay!" He began to sob.

"Shut up!" Orangefoot snarled at him.

While Eaglekit continued to sob, I turned my gaze to Turtlepaw. She gave a start when she saw me there and began to move towards me, but Featherheart blocked me. "You will _not_ get to her!"

"Featherheart, please!" pleaded Turtlepaw. "I want to see him again!"

"No you don't!" Featherheart lunged at me and knocked me to the ground. "You are only loyal to one thing, Turtlepaw: him, or us! You get that in your head right now!"

Turtlepaw looked stricken, but she stared down at me. "She's right, Waterpaw. I have to go ahead with this. It's the only way I'm going to be able to move on."

I gasped in pain as Featherheart delivered a hefty blow to the head. It hurt badly, but I had suffered far worse at the paws of some of the Legion cats and after a day of fighting, this was nothing. This time, it was my turn to knock Featherheart aside and pin _her_ down. I glared up at Turtlepaw.

"You think that revenge will get you what you want?" I roared. "Well, you're _wrong_! Listen, Turtlepaw, Hareflight has done nothing as bad as you make him out to have done. Yes he's done some horrible things, but so have all of us! And so have you!"

"I" – Turtlepaw stared at me for a moment. Featherheart struggled from under me, but I held her down harder than ever. She tried to speak, but I placed a paw over her mouth.

"You told me that you didn't deserve my love!" I added. "You told me you didn't deserve my friendship and support! Well now you _really_ don't, because _this_ is what you've done!" I pointed to behind Turtlepaw.

Turtlepaw glanced backwards at Flamepaw, who was still lying motionless on the floor.

"If you could just get away from all of this evil and cruelty, you could end up finding real happiness. You could be with… me," I continued, my voice beginning to crack.

Turtlepaw's eyes widened.

"Turtlepaw, I love you, and I don't want you to throw away your entire life for this. I want you to be with me. I want us to join RiverClan together, and if that doesn't happen, we should still always love each other. Will that happen if you try to kill one of my best friends?"

Turtlepaw stared at me. Underneath me, Featherheart had all but given up trying to unbalance me and instead glared at me with pure hatred. I didn't care. I stared deeply into Turtlepaw's dark green eyes, and she stared at me.

"Waterpaw," Turtlepaw choked out, tears starting to come to her eyes, "I"…

She completely lost it, howling at the top of her lungs. She ran out of the cave, huge tears dripping on the ground as she flew out of the cave and out of sight.

I looked helplessly at the ground. "Well, _that_ went well."

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

Hareflight's POV

I fought a brown she-cat, unbalancing her by twisting under her belly. Although my opponent seemed quite strong, I was much swifter and could dodge more hefty blows. She toppled to the ground, defeated. Finally, she glared at me and pulled herself to her paws, running away without a backward glance. I stopped for a moment, trying to catch my breath.

I had been pretty scared when Whitepaw had run out in front of everyone to save Ravenkit and Mistkit. What had he been thinking, doing that? After Sassafrasstar signaled the attack, I had tried to get to him, but I had been blocked by the Legion she-cat. _I hope he's okay._

But there was no time to think about that now. Right now, my main focus should be fighting the Legion cats and getting RiverClan camp back under our control.

Suddenly, I froze. Right in front of me was Jasper, his back turned to me. He was glaring down, not even concentrating on the battle around him. He just stood there, arrogantly licking his paws.

Something inside of me just snapped and I lunged at him, fury in my eyes. Jasper was completely unprepared for the attack. He stumbled, tumbling down as I knocked him over and pinned him under me.

"You caused so many deaths!" I screeched, digging my claws into his flank. "You helped Luke plan the attack on us, you injured Flamepaw at the horseplace, you started the war between RiverClan and ShadowClan, you traumatized me as an apprentice, and worst of all – _you killed Eaglekit_!" I slammed my paw onto his head. "And you're going to pay for it!"

Jasper shoved himself up. The strength of his muscles and the force of his weight made me fall over, off of his back. "Oh yeah?" he hissed. "Don't forget that I'm stronger than you, traitor." He raked his claws over my belly.

Fury exploded inside of me. I let out a roar and knocked him over, placing my paws over his neck. Jasper laughed, but the laugh was cut short as my claws sliced through his throat. For a moment, fear shone in his eyes as he realized he had been overconfident and it was now too late to win the battle. He gasped for one moment, then lay down, shuddering for air. Finally he took his last breath and lay still.

I glared at him, feeling no remorse for what I'd done; instead, I felt a cold and cruel satisfaction. I had killed the menace of my apprenticehood, and destroyed the bully who had murdered Eaglekit. "You can't take any more innocent lives," I said quietly.

"Oh, but _I_ can," a voice said behind me. Before I could react, I was pinned to the ground. I gasped and twisted around, turning to see who my opponent was.

Standing above me was Luke.

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

Sweetsong's POV

Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. Eaglekit was crying, Waterkit was trying to console him, and Flowerstar was laughing. Orangefoot was also grinning maniacally, not really doing anything. Turtlepaw had just run off in tears, and Waterpaw and Featherheart were fighting again.

"Flamepaw!" I cried. "Wake up wake up wake up _wake up_!"

Flamepaw didn't stir. Eaglekit continued to howl, his cries filling the den. "Come back, Flamepaw!" he screamed. "I'm sorry I was so stupid, it was all my fault this happened, just wake up!"

"This is just priceless," Flowerstar grinned. "Little kit crying over his brother, boo hoo hoo. This was definitely worth coming here for."

"You are the most evil, self-centered cat I have ever seen," Waterkit whirled around to face Flowerstar. "Why can't you just leave him alone? Why do you have to make everyone's lives miserable?"

"You DUMMY!" Flowerstar snapped at her. "The whole reason why I'm here IS to make everyone lives miserable! What else do you think my job is?"

I stared at Flamepaw, who was still lying deathly still. He was breathing, but that was it. He wasn't dead, but he wasn't awake…

"Flamepaw!" I cried. "You have to wake up!" Predictably, nothing happened. But I knew I had to try. I had to get him to wake up.

"Remember when I called you self-centered?" I said. "Remember when I thought you were arrogant? Well, I was wrong! I was only taking my needs into account. I wasn't thinking of you."

"Oh my Dark Forest, this is _pathetic_ ," sneered Flowerstar. "Spoken like a soft-hearted Clan cat."

I knew what I had said _was_ pretty pathetic, but at this point, I didn't care. Somehow, it just seemed right.

"You've been through so much!" I pressed on. "You didn't even know your father for the longest time, you were cruelly separated from your brother, and I can see why you hate Hareflight! But revenge doesn't solve anything. Only love can do that!"

"Lame," snorted Orangefoot. "Even _I_ could think of a better speech than that."

"Shut up!" Waterkit snapped at him.

"Flamepaw, you _have_ to wake up," I continued. "Right now, Eaglekit is waiting for you, you have three other worried siblings, and Sassafrasstar is going to be devastated if you don't make it back. I'll be devastated if you don't pull through this! So wake up, Flamepaw! I really really like you!"

It was as if those were the magic words. A brilliant fiery red light shone above Flamepaw, reflecting off of his fur and into the whole cavern. Waterpaw and Featherheart stopped fighting to stare at what was going on. Flowerstar and Orangefoot's mouths fell open.

Flamepaw began to stir, his eyes opening and his eyes staring into mine. We looked at each other for a long moment, our gazes never giving way. Then he grinned. "That actually wasn't as bad of a speech as you thought," he meowed. "Don't listen to Orangefoot; I bet he couldn't make a speech even if his life depended on it."

Orangefoot looked as if he'd been hit on the head. Flowerstar was staring at Flamepaw. "What – just – happened?" she shrieked.

Waterkit shrugged, though she was grinning. "I guess some things are more powerful than bitterness and spite," she said.

But the cat who was the most happy of all was Eaglekit. "You came back!" he cried, tears of joy falling down his face.

"I did, didn't I?" Flamepaw grinned. He turned to Flowerstar. "You ready to take her down?" he asked.

"Oh yeah!" Eaglekit grinned and flexed his claws.

"It's time for the real battle to begin," continued Flamepaw. "This time, we're going to take _all_ of you down."

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

Hareflight's POV

Luke let out a loud laugh as he shoved me down, placing his claws over my neck. "You're finished!" he roared.

"No!" I screamed, twisting around and attempted to kick him in the belly. But it was badly aimed and the only thing I managed to hit was the air. Luke laughed even harder.

As I lay there helplessly, I saw something out of the corner of my eye. Swanpaw was running towards me, a desperate look on her face. "Hareflight!" she screeched. "I'm coming!"

"Is this your girlfriend?" Luke asked me.

"She's not my" –

Luke responded by leaping up and shoving Swanpaw to the ground, knocking her off her paws. Although Swanpaw was fierce, she was no match for the aggressive, vicious rouge who wouldn't stop at anything to get what he wanted – even if it meant kill. He slashed at her belly, leaving her screeching.

"SWANPAW!" I roared, leaping in front of Luke and shoving him down. "You stay away from her!"

"Don't you hurt him!" Swanpaw added, leaping to her paws and glaring at Luke. "You will not win!"

"Oh yeah?" Luke purred. Suddenly he lunged forward, paws outstretched, and slammed her on the head. Swanpaw gasped and fell to the ground, motionless.

"Why, you" – I glared at Luke, horrified. "You… you"…

"What are you going to do about that, weakling?" Luke sneered, a twisted look on his face. "That's all you are, you know. A weakling. All you know how to do is to escape your problems! You can never confront them or stand up for what you know is right. I know you weren't a loyal spy for me. You would always do a half job, flitting between this and that just to stay out of trouble. And that is what is ultimately going to destroy you. I'm going to finish you off, and then I'm going to take care of Miss I'm-Too-Good-For-Everyone over there! She won't stand a chance."

I gasped, my legs giving way as I kneeled over in pain. He was right. That was all I was. I couldn't even defend myself to save my Clan. I was just a lost cause. This was it.

But then I looked over at Swanpaw, and suddenly felt a blazing fire of courage burning in my heart. All this time, she had been the one to stand up for me. She had stood up for me from Greennose and Heronclaw, defended me against Frostheart, and tried to get me a lighter punishment from Sassafrasstar.

I had to do this for her. I had to defeat Luke. I was going to destroy the Legion and win back RiverClan camp. It was time she realized that I was useful for something too. I struggled under Luke's grasp, but my voice was strong as I meowed, "You… you're wrong."

"What was that?" asked Luke.

"You're _wrong_ ," I repeated. "I'm not the same weak cat I was as an apprentice. I was young and inexperienced back then, but not anymore. I'm going to defeat you and your Legion, and make RiverClan proud!"

And for the first time in ages, I felt a glimmer of righteousness inside of me. I knew at that moment, this was the right thing to do.

"Very well then," Luke meowed. He unsheathed his claws, about to sink them into my neck, but I had prepared for that move. I kicked my hind legs up expertly, straight under his tail. He let out a screech of pain as I pulled myself out from under.

I wrestled with him, rolling over and over as we grappled, our claws trying to slash each other. I got a cut in the muzzle. He got a slash on his side. We continued rolling over the battlefield, until we came to a complete stop at the Lakeledge, with me under him.

Luke was right over me, his lips curled into a smile as he stared into my eyes. I realized I was in the worst possible position for an attack. In desperation I forced myself to lay still, pretending to lay limp.

 _This is the oldest trick ever, but it's got to work… Three… two… one…_

With a sudden renewed energy, I leapt up. Shock exploded in Luke's eyes as I unsheathed my claws, standing over him and slashing them through his neck for the last time. The light faded from his eyes as he fell with a thud beside me, deathly still. A wave of triumph electrified my body as I stood up proudly, shouting, "Luke is dead!"

The battle began to come to a halt. Terror showed on the Legion cats' faces, but the jubilation on the Clan cats' faces was even brighter. The cry rang up from the ranks. "Hareflight! Hareflight! Hareflight!"

I savored in the joy of one of my first victories. There would be many more troubles after this, but now, it was time to take in this moment of glory and triumph.

* * *

 **And Luke is dead! Three cheers for Hareflight!**


	42. Chapter 38: Thunder and Lightning

CHAPTER 38: THUNDER AND LIGHTNING

Swanpaw's POV

"Swanpaw!"

"Stand back. Give her room to breathe."

Slowly, the world around me started to become visible. I opened my eyes, the mist surrounding my vision ebbing away as I began to see things more clearly. I saw Hareflight and Whitepaw's concerned faces in front of me slowly beginning to relax as they saw me waking up. I yawned for a moment and looked at them.

"What just happened?"

"Be quiet," instructed Whitepaw. "Listen to me. Does your head hurt anywhere?"

"No."

"And you're not feeling disoriented or delirious or anything like that?"

"No."

Whitepaw looked at Hareflight. "See? I told you she was fine."

"Oh good," Hareflight had a relieved expression on his face. "I was so worried." He bent down to nuzzle me.

I relaxed slightly, but stiffened as I heard a yowl.

"Retreat!"

"Oh no!" I gasped. "Do we have to go? What happened? Were we defeated and" –

"Shh!" Hareflight laid his tail on my shoulder. "It's the Legion who are retreating. Don't you get it? We won!"

I sank back down, the tension in my chest fading away. We had won! The lake was really ours again! "They're not coming back, are they?" I asked.

Hareflight shook his head. "Their most important members were killed. I think they're just going to scatter."

"Hareflight defeated Luke," Whitepaw added, grinning at him.

"You did?" I asked incredulously. "Awesome!"

Hareflight dipped his head, looking slightly embarrassed. In a flash, I suddenly remembered what I had said at sunhigh, how I had doubted Hareflight. "Look," I meowed quietly, "I'm sorry about what I said. I know I doubted you before, and I won't doubt you again."

"Thanks," said Hareflight. "And I'm sorry, too. I said some rather stupid things back then too." He nuzzled my fur.

"I hate to put a damper on the mood, but we've got another problem," said Whitepaw. "Remember Waterpaw and Sweetsong?"

In the midst of all that was happening, I had completely forgotten about them. I stared at Whitepaw in alarm. "What about them?"

"I got this prophecy earlier on," said Whitepaw. "I can't explain it all now, but… I just have this really bad feeling. We have to go look for them."

"You bet we do!" I said instantly, getting up. "Let's go!"

"Hang on!" Hareflight pushed me down. "You shouldn't come with us. Bluemist said he doesn't want any of the injured cats leaving his den, let alone camp."

"So?" I retorted. "I'm not staying here! If there's trouble, I'm coming with you! Besides, you guys are both pretty cut up from the battle! You're not in any better shape than I am!"

Hareflight and Whitepaw exchanged a glance. Finally Whitepaw nodded. "I suppose you'd better come," he said. "But we're going to have to carefully sneak out. Thankfully, it's night, so I don't think anyone will see us."

"Let's go," said Hareflight, leading the way out.

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

Eaglekit's POV

"You're finished," snarled Flowerstar, her face contorted with fury as Flamepaw cleverly managed to trip Flowerstar over her paws.

She didn't look capable of carrying out her threat. Neither did Featherheart, who was fighting Waterpaw and Waterkit, or Orangefoot, who was struggling against Sweetsong. The Dark Forest cats looked defeated, even if they weren't ready to admit it yet.

"No, _you're_ done for!" Waterkit shouted out. "In fact, _all_ of you are done for! Will you surrender?"

"Never!" Flowerstar bellowed.

"Well, you're going to now," snapped Flamepaw. "Go back to the Dark Forest, where you belong. If you think you can get your revenge on Sassafrasstar, you are mistaken!"

Suddenly, Flowerstar began to laugh. Her cold, shrill laugh pierced the air. To my amazement, I saw all the Dark Forest cats laughing: Orangefoot's loud laugh, Featherheart's cold laugh, and Flowerstar's high-pitched laugh all together.

I looked nervously at Waterkit. "This does _not_ look good."

"You do realize we were not intending to kill you in the battle, right?" Flowerstar laughed. "If we wished to kill you, we would have used our powers to attack you with a lightning strike or thunder bolt. No, that was simply for our amusement. The fun begins here."

I had a feeling this wasn't going to be as "fun" as Flowerstar thought.

"We're not going to actually take over the Clans," Flowerstar continued. "We probably would never have a chance. Your Legion is doing that right now, even as we speak. We're only here to get revenge on Sassafrasstar."

"You're not going anywhere near her," Flamepaw piped up, glaring at the Dark Forest cats fiercely. "She's already suffered enough because of creeps like you" –

"We didn't say we were going to kill Sassafrasstar," Featherheart interrupted. "Where did you get that idea? No. We're going to kill _you_."

I stared at them, my eyes wide.

"Nothing we do to Sassafrasstar will hurt her more than if her kits die," Featherheart continued. "We wish Swanpaw and Whitepaw were here for this final spectacle, but oh well. They probably were already taken care of by the Legion."

"Then why didn't you just kill us while we were fighting?" Waterpaw demanded. "Why are you waiting until now?"

"Like Flowerstar said, that was simply for our entertainment," Featherheart answered. "Why do we want to get our paws dirty? There are better ways."

Suddenly, the ground below us began to shake. I gasped as a single rock fell from the ceiling. I dodged it, and it hit the spot where I was just standing a second ago. If I hadn't have moved, it would have hit me in the head.

The Dark Forest cats howled with laughter. "You see," said Orangefoot, "we're going to make this tunnel collapse. With our powers, we will create an earthshake. Everything will collapse on you as you try to escape, thus completing our revenge."

"Um, Orangefoot," Flamepaw pointed out, "you do realize that if you make this tunnel collapse, you'll most likely kill yourselves in the process?"

Orangefoot grinned, showing all his yellow teeth, and let out the most maniacal, loud laugh I had ever heard. "THEN WE CAN ALL DIE TOGETHER!"

"RUN!" screamed Sweetsong, running straight for the exit of the tunnel. I followed her, running desperately for my life.

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

Swanpaw's POV

"Just head this way!" said Whitepaw, leading us out of camp.

I tasted the air, but there was no scent of Sweetsong or Waterpaw. "Do you have any idea which way they went?"

"No," admitted Whitepaw. "But I'm sure if we go towards the swamp, we'll find their scents."

"You're sure of a lot of things," I muttered, but nevertheless followed him towards the swamp.

He was right, though. Once we reached the swamp, we caught Sweetsong and Waterpaw's scent trails heading south. I also caught a bit of Kettle and Willie's scent in the air, too.

Hareflight stopped dead. "You don't think they ran into Legion cats, did they?" he asked quietly.

"Let's not assume the worst yet," said Whitepaw. "That may not have happened."

"Hang on," I interrupted. "Could you tell us why you're so concerned about Waterpaw and Sweetsong? You said something earlier about a prophecy. What exactly is this prophecy about?"

Whitepaw hesitated. "I was sworn to secrecy, but… I guess I'd better tell you." He looked around and lowered his voice.

"It happened the night after the battle with ShadowClan. I got a dream from four StarClan cats: Lionblaze, Dovewing, Hollyleaf, and Jayfeather. They're ancestors of ThunderClan, but they had a really important prophecy to tell me."

"Why ThunderClan ancestors?" asked Hareflight.

"Because they were involved in an uprising from the Dark Forest," Whitepaw answered. "They were the ones who led the fight against the Dark Forest. They're the ones who told me that an alliance between the four Clans was necessary to defeat the Legion. That's how I convinced Sassafrasstar to have that meeting. But that's not all they told me.

"I was told that drastic changes would be coming to the Clans, and it would involve Dark Forest cats. The StarClan cats didn't know what troubles would be coming, but once it happened, the world as we knew it would change forever.

"I was also given a prophecy. It went like this." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, beginning to recite. ' _Thunder will turn the world into chaos. One who was once a friend will resort to darkness. The sky will fall, and the one who is lost and found at the same time will lead the way. The world you once knew will be changed drastically, never to be the same again._ '"

Silence.

I stared at Whitepaw, trying to process this new information. _Dark Forest? Changes?_ Then Hareflight spoke up.

"You haven't explained how this involves Waterpaw and Sweetsong."

Whitepaw sighed. "Don't you get it? They've gone to find Flamepaw, who's been taken off somewhere by Turtlepaw. We know that Turtlepaw's been plotting with Dark Forest cats this entire time, and for all we know, those changes must include those Dark Forest cats!"

I realized he was right. Well, there was no way we were going to let Waterpaw and Sweetsong deal with all of this by themselves. We were going to go find them.

"So, are we ready to go now, or not?" Whitepaw asked impatiently.

"You lead the way," Hareflight answered. We followed Whitepaw, wondering what was in store for Waterpaw and Sweetsong.

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

Flamepaw's POV

We came to an underground river. Although we hadn't been taught to swim, I knew we had no other choice. Sweetsong was the only one of us who could swim, so she would have to show us.

"Move your paws like this!" she shouted, treading the water with her paws and gliding across. I looked at her cautiously.

"Do it!" insisted Sweetsong. "It's our only hope!"

At that moment, rocks from above tumbled down. That was all the encouragement I needed. Taking a deep breath, I leapt into the water.

The force of the rocks falling in the river created a fast-moving current. We screamed as we were shoved around with the force of the water. I struggled to keep my head afloat as we were swept away.

It was hard for me to swim. But it was even worse for Eaglekit and Waterkit. They screamed as they were tossed around in the churning water, with no way to escape.

"I've got you!" I screeched, grasping Waterkit in my jaws. Sweetsong grabbed on to Eaglekit. "Just hold on!"

The river slammed us against the wall, dumping us at a dead end. A moment later, rocks fell behind us, blocking the way we came from.

We were trapped.

"Flamepaw?" A voice asked. I looked down to see Eaglekit, who was watching me with doleful eyes. He stared at me, emotion glistening over his eyes as he whispered, "You know that I worked with the Dark Forest cats, right?"

"I know," I said quietly. "I heard Sandfur and Flowerstar talking about it."

"You – you know?" he asked in surprise. "Well, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. I swear I didn't mean to work with them. I didn't even know what their real plans were. Sandfur told me that he wanted to come back to life, and he would let me come with them if I helped them, and I did it because I knew I would see you again, and" –

"Remember when you told me to let go?" I answered. "When you told me that we couldn't be together anymore?"

"I was wrong!" he cried. "I _did_ want to be with you. After I left you, I started making plans to see you again and – but it didn't work out. Sandfur never kept his promise and went to the living world without me. Then Waterkit discovered what I had done, so we went through their den to get to the living world… and"…

"All right." I laid my tail over his shoulder. "It's okay," I said soothingly. "It's not your fault. This would have happened anyways. Besides, if we're going to die, I'd rather die with you than any other cat."

We stood there in silence, waiting for rocks to fall on our head and crush us. This was it. This was the end.

But then suddenly, I heard a voice. It was soft and meek, but we could still hear it over the rumbling of the tunnels.

"Are you all right?"

* * *

Waterpaw's POV

"Who is that?" I shouted. The voice sounded distinctly familiar, but it couldn't be…

A moment later, someone emerged from a crack in the wall and all doubt was erased from my mind.

Turtlepaw stood in front of us, glancing out at us nervously as she stepped forward. Her fur was splattered with mud, her legs were wobbling, and she was as disoriented as all of us.

But she still was there.

"You," I gasped. "But… how"…

"I got here through a different tunnel," she said. "There's a connecting tunnel which leads from there to here. I knew I would find you here."

"I didn't even see that crack in the wall!" Sweetsong marveled.

"It's small," answered Turtlepaw. "But I think everyone will fit through." She stepped back and allowed us to squeeze through the opening.

It was just large enough for everyone to get through. Once I had come out, I looked at Turtlepaw.

"I can't believe you came back"…

"I came to help you escape," Turtlepaw brushed her muzzle with mine. We stared into each other's eyes for a moment, but stopped as we heard more rumbling in the distance. "This doesn't matter now," Turtlepaw said. "Let's get out of these tunnels, then we'll talk." She pushed past me and shouted out to the others, "Let me lead the way!"

We were all too happy to let Turtlepaw take up the front of the line. I followed, hoping she would be able to lead us to safety.

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

Whitepaw's POV

"Their scent ends here," Swanpaw meowed.

I sniffed around. Their scent ended at a hole. When I lowered my head into the tunnel, however, I couldn't smell anything.

"I don't get it," I meowed. "How can their scent trail just end here?"

"They obviously went down the hole," answered Swanpaw. She looked troubled. "How can we follow them?"

So far, we had followed the southern RiverClan border, crossed all over WindClan territory, and were nearing the ThunderClan border. Waterpaw and Sweetsong's scents were very strong in this area, but they were masked as soon as we stuck out heads into the tunnel.

"I'll go down," I answered. But Swanpaw pulled me back.

"You're not going down there, Whitepaw," she answered. " _I'll_ go instead to search for them."

"No one's going down," answered Hareflight. "It's an aimless search to nowhere that will most likely get us killed in the process."

"My _brother_ is down there!" exclaimed Swanpaw. "And so is your sister!"

The two of them began to argue. While they fought, I sighed and sat down, thinking of the prophecy. There were some big changes going on with the Dark Forest cats, but… were they happening now?

Suddenly, I remembered. "The tunnels!" I said aloud. "My dream about the tunnels!" Swanpaw and Hareflight stopped arguing to stare at me. I remembered my nightmare about a tunnel collapsing and nearly falling on me. _It was a sign from StarClan!_ "We _have_ to go down there," I said.

Swanpaw gasped, pointing down into the tunnels. "Someone's coming up now!"

I looked down. I saw someone's exhausted face coming into view as a cat climbed out of the tunnels, panting for breath. She pulled herself out of the tunnel, staring at us.

Swanpaw was the first to speak. "Turtlepaw?" she growled at the she-cat. "What are _you_ doing here?"

Turtlepaw was about to answer, but I saw some more faces in the tunnel. "There's more coming up," I said. Still glaring suspiciously at Turtlepaw, Swanpaw rushed to help me, and Hareflight joined soon after.

As I went down into the tunnel, the ground began me began to shake. I gasped and nearly fell back.

"Whitepaw, I'm so glad to see you!" I heard a shout. "Don't worry about the tunnels shaking. It's been doing that for a while."

I looked down. Flamepaw was staring up at me, smiling in relief. "Flamepaw!" I gasped. "You're all right!"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Flamepaw grinned. "Waterpaw and Sweetsong are fine too." He motioned to the two cats behind him. Behind Waterpaw were two kits. I craned my neck to look at them, and gasped. "Eaglekit"… I choked out, staring at the brown tom.

"Dark Forest cats aren't the only ones which can come back to life," answered Eaglekit. "Waterkit here came back with me." He motioned to the silvery-blue she-kit next to him.

"Can someone explain what's going on?" demanded Swanpaw. "Especially what _she's_ doing here?" She pointed to Turtlepaw.

"I'll happily explain over a squirrel and some water," answered Waterpaw. "But you needn't worry about her, Swanpaw. She's the one who saved us." He looked at Turtlepaw with distinct joy.

"I'll go and hunt," said Hareflight, heading for the woods. "Coming, Swanpaw?"

Swanpaw nodded, though she still looked suspicious. With a sigh, I settled down to tend to everyone's wounds.

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

Flamepaw's POV

Our wounds were minimal, though Whitepaw said that since they were covered in dust, we were prone to infection. He helped us clean them and found some nearby herbs to chew into poultices.

Hareflight and Swanpaw came back with three squirrels and a possum. We eagerly settled down for food. Eaglekit and I split a squirrel, Hareflight and Sweetsong had the second squirrel, Waterpaw and Turtlepaw ate the third, and Waterkit, Swanpaw, and Whitepaw ate the possum.

While eating, Waterpaw and Sweetsong explained everything. They told us about meeting Eaglekit and Waterkit, fighting off Willie and Kettle, confronting the Dark Forest cats, and our escape from the tunnels. I also added the part about how Sweetsong had managed to wake me up from my sleep, and how Eaglekit and I had fought Flowerstar together.

But when it came to the part about Turtlepaw rescuing us, there were a lot of questions.

"Why did you decide to come back, Turtlepaw?" asked Swanpaw. "What made you change your mind?"

Clearly she still didn't trust Turtlepaw, but she wasn't the only one confused by the situation. Turtlepaw closed her eyes and began to explain.

"After Waterpaw told me what I'd done wrong, I couldn't take it," she admitted. "I went off crying. Then I sat down to think about it. I realized that revenge against everyone was pointless, and only going to hurt the cats I loved. Then I heard Flowerstar's declaration to destroy the tunnels and have them collapse on everyone. I first tried to escape myself, but then I heard you guys, stuck in the side tunnel. I immediately rushed to help.

She looked over at me. "And I'm sorry for helping to kidnap and hurt you, Flamepaw. That was just… stupid of me. I should have known that revenge wouldn't solve the problem. You were right. It didn't make me happy. The only cat who could make me happy was Waterpaw." She turned to face him.

I smiled. "It's okay. And you know what? I think I learned a lesson too." I looked over at Hareflight and Sweetsong. "I guess I owe both of you an apology. Hareflight, I was furious with you when I found out about your role in Eaglekit's death, and I kind of took it out on Sweetsong."

"I think we're good, though," answered Hareflight. "You know that we defeated the Legion? And I defeated Luke and Jasper."

"That's great!" said Sweetsong enthusiastically. "They won't be able to do anything horrible anymore."

"But there's one thing I still don't get," Eaglekit said suddenly. "You know Featherheart, Flowerstar, and Orangefoot? Did they survive the collapse of the tunnels?"

"I don't think so," Waterpaw answered quietly. "There's no way any cat could have survived that."

Eaglekit's chin trembled, looking extremely miserable. Then suddenly, he burst into tears.

"Eaglekit!" gasped Sweetsong. "It's okay, it's" –

"You don't understand!" wailed Eaglekit. "When I was with Sandfur and the Dark Forest cats, I thought their mission was to gain redemption, I really did. And Sandfur promised me that he would take me to see all of you, but he lied, and I had to come here. I tried to convince him through words, not through violence, but we ended up fighting anyways, and… why does the world have to be so cruel?"

Eaglekit completely lost it, collapsing on the ground and yowling at the top of his lungs. Waterkit tried to comfort him, but he brushed her off.

"Why did StarClan never give Sandfur and the others a chance?" Eaglekit wept. "They should have taught him the errors of his ways, instead of just punishing him. He was never given a chance, he" –

"Look, I hate to break it to you, but Sandfur was given _plenty_ of chances," Swanpaw said bluntly. "He _chose_ to hurt all the cats in his life, and he _chose_ to attempt revenge. It's his fault, and he deserves to be punished for it."

"Swanpaw!" I glared at her. How could she say that? However irrational Eaglekit was acting, that was the last thing he needed to hear right now.

Swanpaw wasn't finished, though.

"But look at how it has all turned out," she continued, her voice much gentler now. "You were reunited with your brother in the end. Yes, you weren't able to solve the problem peacefully, but sometimes things can't be solved peacefully. We can only hope Sandfur has learned his lesson… wherever he is now."

I let out a long sigh, which I knew I'd been holding since the beginning of the war with the Legion. "It's over," I meowed. "It's finally over."

We stood there silently, thinking about all that had happened to us. My mind was still flooding with questions. Where was Sandfur now? What had become of Flowerstar, Featherheart, and Orangefoot? Were they in the Dark Forest now? And was it possible for them to come back for revenge?

Suddenly, Swanpaw looked straight over my shoulder. Her fur was bristling in fear, her eyes were wide open, and a shrill cry escaped her jaws:

"Flamepaw! LOOK OUT!"

* * *

 **To be continued…**


	43. Chapter 39: The Sacrifice

**Hey, guys! Sorry it took me such a while to update. Especially on a cliffie, that was pretty evil. Anyways, good to see you guys again! Now let's see what happens to Flamepaw…**

* * *

CHAPTER 39: THE SACRIFICE

Flamepaw's POV

I whirled around just in time to see someone crash straight into me. The force sent me rolling and rolling across the field until I slammed into a tree. I gasped, dizzy for breath.

In front of me, Flowerstar stood tall, jaws parted and teeth bared. Her eyes were dull and lifeless and her body seemed limp. She had a deep scar across her flanks, and her bones were broken, after being crushed by the tunnels. From what I could see, she should have been dead.

And yet, she was very much alive.

"Thought you'd gotten rid of me, eh?" Flowerstar laughed. "I am back, better than ever! Featherheart, Sandfur, and Orangefoot may have failed to get their revenge, but I will not! I WILL DEFEAT YOU!"

I cried in pain as Flowerstar knocked me again against the tree. "Flamepaw!" I heard Eaglekit shout. "I'm coming!" He ran at Flowerstar, but the brown she-cat knocked Eaglekit to the side. "It's just you and me," she snarled at me. Then she slammed her paw onto my head, holding me down.

The world seemed to be moving in slow motion. Right now, it was all about me and Flowerstar; everything else could wait. I grimaced, rolling out of Flowerstar's grip. "Let me go," I choked. "What is your _problem_?"

Flowerstar began to laugh evilly.

"I've always wanted to be leader of the Clans," she snarled. "I was destined to rule, to be the supreme leader of all warrior cats! Then your mother came along. She seized power from me when she wasn't even a legitimate _warrior_! She's going to be _so_ devastated when her precious little kit is dead."

I roared, swiping at Flowerstar with my claws, but she cleverly dodged the strike. "Is that all you can do?" she sneered. "I'm glad Sandfur didn't recruit you to be a part of our team after all!"

Flowerstar again slammed me into the ground, and a deep groan escaped from my jaws. I struggled, trying to keep my mind in order, but any thoughts of order left me as Flowerstar punched me in the stomach. Overwhelming pain hit me until I started to feel my vision going black.

"You now will join me!" Flowerstar yelled. "Say your last words now! I will use you for my master plan, my REVENGE!"

I screamed as she picked me up, ran straight over to the tunnel, and threw me down. I slid down the rocky surface, falling down the tunnel until I hit solid ground, at the bottom.

Then everything went dark.

* * *

Whitepaw's POV

"Flamepaw!" I tried to yowl, but the sound of my scream was drowned by the sound of Flamepaw's screams and Flowerstar's maniacal laugh. She dove into the tunnel, chasing Flamepaw down.

Then the tunnel began to collapse.

It caved in and we heard the loud sound of rocks tumbling down, hitting the bottom of the tunnels.

"Flamepaw!" gasped Eaglekit. "Where are you?" He ran to the edge of the tunnels, screaming hysterically. "FLAMEPAW!"

Sweetsong looked as if she'd swallowed a pile of bitter herbs. "I thought she was dead!" she blurted out.

"Um, yeah. So did everyone else," Waterpaw snapped at her.

"We have to find them!" screeched Swanpaw. "Everyone, let's dig through these tunnels and find Flamepaw!" She strode towards the tunnels, but Waterkit stopped her.

"That's not going to help," said Waterkit. "How do you expect to dig through all of those tunnels and get to Flamepaw in time? Flowerstar could have killed him ten times by the time we get there."

"Well then, do you have any better ideas?" Swanpaw snarled back.

"No, listen" –

"No, YOU listen!" Swanpaw snarled. "I am sick of your whole 'world peace' attitude. You're not going to take action fast enough to save Flamepaw. Well, guess what? I will do everything it takes to save my brother!" She bared her teeth.

I looked up at the stars desperately. We were falling apart, and this was it. This was no way to save Flamepaw. "StarClan help us!" I screamed.

Suddenly, a green haze of light appeared right in front of us. It appeared unsteady at first, but then started to grow brighter. Then the light began to diminish and a black she-cat stepped out, her fur shining with the same green starlight.

I looked at the she-cat in disbelief. "Hollyleaf?" I gasped. I had seen her only once, when she had given me the prophecy, but I still remembered her as clearly as ever.

"We must hurry," Hollyleaf responded. "If your brother is to be saved, we must take action immediately."

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

Flowerstar's POV

I grinned down at the apprentice, who lay sprawled on the ground, motionless. This was perfect. I could kill Flamepaw now, and finally gain my revenge on Sassafrasstar. And when his siblings came down, looking for him, I would kill them as well.

"You've always wanted to join your brother in StarClan, haven't you, Flamepaw?" I whispered to him. "And so your wish is granted. I, Flowerstar, will kill you, in revenge for everything Sassafrasstar has done!"

Laughing maniacally, I lifted up a paw, preparing for the strike.

"STOP!"

My claws stopped in mid-air. I turned around to see who it was, hoping it would be one of Flamepaw's siblings. I could finish them all off together.

But what I saw made my eyes bulge out in horror.

Sandfur stood right before me. His cream-colored fur was streaked with dust, his claws were unsheathed, and he had a murderous glint on his face.

I stared at him, putting my paw back on the ground. "What are _you_ doing here?" I cried. "What _business_ do you have here?" Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Flamepaw waking up, looking at us in sheer horror and running for his life, farther down the tunnel. I didn't care about him. Right now, all I was worried about was Sandfur.

"I've come here to get my revenge," he answered. "And I'm not talking about Flamepaw, or even Sassafrasstar. I'm going to get revenge on _you_."

I glared at him. "Get out here right now! As leader, I command you to!"

"You're not my leader," Sandfur snapped. "You have no control over me anymore!"

"Be careful of what you say, Sandfur," I warned. "I could just as easily kill you again."

"You can't threaten me," he said boldly. "You're the one who's going to die tonight." He gazed at me with a menacing look in his eyes.

"How is it that you came back here, Flowerstar? When the tunnels collapsed on us, Featherheart returned to StarClan and Orangefoot went straight to the Dark Forest. And yet, when both of us died, we came back to the living world. How is that?" He circled around me. "It is fate, isn't it? We are both destined to fight for power."

I bared my teeth. "We will fight right here, you and I. One of us will live, and one of us will die."

"Bring it on." Sandfur circled me, fury glinting in his eyes.

With a hiss, I sprang onto Sandfur, knocking him to the ground.

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

Eaglekit's POV

"What do we do?" asked Swanpaw, circling Hollyleaf impatiently. "How are you going to help us?"

"I cannot do much to help," responded Hollyleaf. "I am only here in spirit, unlike Waterkit and Eaglekit, who came back physically. But I _can_ still guide you." She looked down at the recently collapsed tunnels. "Eaglekit, do you know that you and Waterkit have special powers?"

"Powers?" I asked, puzzled.

"When Sandfur, Flowerstar, Featherheart, and Orangefoot went through the Nightmare Den, they didn't just use it to come back to life," she explained. "They used it also to give them special powers, so that when they arrived at the Clans, they would have special powers to take out their enemies. You and Waterkit have the same powers."

"So what do we do with them?" Waterkit asked, still not understanding.

"I'm telling you to use them to dig through the tunnel."

I smacked myself in the head. "We are _so_ stupid!" I gasped. "We should have used them while escaping from the tunnels. I cannot believe we didn't realize this sooner!"

"Does it really matter now?" asked Hareflight. "Let's find Flamepaw!" He looked as anxious as any of us to find Flamepaw and bring him back to safety.

I looked at the tunnels, then at Waterkit. "Ready?" I asked. She nodded, and then we closed our eyes, concentrating on the tunnels.

 _Please let this work_ , I prayed. _Please help me save my brother._

I let myself think about that as I burrowed through the tunnel.

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

Flowerstar's POV

Sandfur began to struggle under my grasp. Although he was a tactician, and thought of clever battle plans, he was no match for my power and skill. I grinned triumphantly.

"Any last words?" I asked.

Sandfur growled. "You will not defeat me," he said, though his words sounded empty and futile. "I will not allow you to!"

"I hope you realize you don't have a choice," I purred back. "Once I kill you, I will go and kill the others. Especially that annoying kit friend of yours – what was his name? – Eaglekit. He will suffer slowly, as punishment for coming down here to confront us."

Sandfur gasped. "You can't do that," he said, his voice becoming suddenly very quiet.

"Oh, I _can_ and I _will_ ," I responded, laughing.

"No," he repeated.

"Why is it that you so badly want to kill everyone else, but when anyone mentions anything about Eaglekit, you want to protect him?" I demanded. "What is it about this kit that you like so much?"

"I don't know," he answered listlessly.

"Then don't waste your time," I responded. "Goodbye, Sandfur. I'd say it's been nice knowing you, but it hasn't."

I bared my teeth, holding them right at Sandfur's neck, ready to snap his throat.

Then suddenly, I was knocked to the ground.

* * *

Eaglekit's POV

We finally emerged into the cavern where we had fought Flowerstar, Featherheart, and Orangefoot. My eyes scanned around for Flamepaw. _Where is he?_ I had to find him before Flowerstar did something bad to him.

Then I saw Flowerstar on top of Sandfur and immediately forgot about Flamepaw.

Gasping, I looked around for a rock to levitate. _There._ I used my mind to make it fly up into the air and hit Flowerstar. Since my aim was still unsteady, it didn't hit her on the head, like I'd have wanted, but it was enough to make her fall to the ground.

Flowerstar glared at me, getting up from where she had fallen. "You little _brat_ ," she snarled. "What are you doing here – again?"

"What did you do to Sandfur?" I cried. "And where's Flamepaw?"

"I don't know what happened to that apprentice friend of yours," she answered dismissively. "He ran away as soon as Sandfur arrived. And as for Sandfur, well, what does it _look_ like I'm doing? I'm going to kill him."

"You're not going to do anything!" Turtlepaw barreled into Flowerstar. "You're going straight back to the Dark Forest, _that's_ what you're doing!"

"Oh, looks like someone turned traitor," drawled Flowerstar, flexing her claws. "You know what kind of painful death traitors deserve to suffer, right?" She moved towards Turtlepaw, but Waterpaw blocked her.

"We're not going down without a fight!" he snarled. Hareflight joined his side, growling at Flowerstar.

"You and Waterkit and deal with Sandfur!" Swanpaw yowled at me. "Whitepaw, Sweetsong, and I are going to find Flamepaw."

The three of them left, leaving Hareflight, Waterpaw, and Turtlepaw to battle it out with Flowerstar. I looked down desperately at Sandfur, who was lying on the ground.

"Sandfur," I gasped, kneeling down beside him, "why did you do it? Why?"

Sandfur gazed up at me, his eyes clouding over.

"I know what I did was wrong," he gasped. "And I know that this didn't solve anything. Eaglekit, I just want to say that… I'm… sorry… for… lying… to… you"… He closed his eyes and lay very still.

I gasped in horror as he fell silent, very still on the ground. "NO!" I wailed. I began to scream, my sobs sounding all over the cavern.

"Eaglekit!" Someone slapped me in the face. My mind suddenly went back into order. Waterkit stood in front of me, looking rather sheepish.

"Sorry, I had to do that to get you to focus," she said. "I hate to break it to you, but we've got worse problems – look!"

Flowerstar had Waterpaw, Turtlepaw, and Hareflight in a pink bubble. They screamed as she laughed, mercilessly sending sparks of lighting to torture them. I watched in horror as a huge volt of electricity hit Waterpaw, making him scream in anguish.

"Stop!" I ran up to Flowerstar. "You will not do this!"

"Really?" purred Flowerstar sweetly. "And what are you going to do about it?"

I narrowed my eyes. " _This_ ," I answered, closing my eyes. A moment later, I felt Waterkit join me. We channeled our energy to the pink bubble, willing it to burst. A few seconds later, I heard a loud _pop_ and the bubble released Hareflight, Turtlepaw, and Waterpaw. They hit the stone floor with alarming speed, and a loud _thud_ sounded through the air.

"HOW DARE YOU?" Flowerstar roared. "YOU WILL PAY FOR THAT! I WILL NOT HAVE A MERE KIT DEPRIVE ME OF MY POWER!" She used her dark energy to force me to the wall.

I gasped, powerless, as a dark net of energy appeared around me, holding me down. If I even tried to resist it I knew I'd be electrocuted. Flowerstar stood in front of me, smiling. I could hear the other four's gasps of horror as she unsheathed her claws. Then she leapt towards me for the killing strike.

But suddenly, someone leapt in front of Flowerstar. A tom vaulted straight in front of the glossy brown she-cat, creating a bridge between her and me. Flowerstar's claws sliced open the tom's belly, leaving him with a deep wound. Then she fell back, stunned by the force of crashing into the tom. The dark net disappeared from around me as I stared at the cat who had saved me.

Lying in front of me was Sandfur. He let out a long groan, lying right in front of my paws.

"What happened here?" Sweetsong, Flamepaw, and Swanpaw emerged from the tunnels, staring at us. Flamepaw started when he saw Sandfur on the ground. "Sandfur! What's going on?"

"He saved me!" I gasped. "Sandfur, you have to wake up!"

"He's not going to wake up this time," said Waterkit sadly. "I'm sorry, Eaglekit. This is it."

"How do you know that?" I cried. "Don't just stand there! Do something!"

"I'm afraid she's right," Sandfur said quietly. "This is how it's going to end."

I stared at him, tears welling up in my eyes, but I forced them away. I couldn't cry now.

"I'm sorry that I treated you so horribly," Sandfur said, looking at Flamepaw. "You're safe now, from cats like me… my precious son"… Emotion began to glisten in his eyes as he looked at me.

"And it's thanks to your brother that I realized that."

There was a silence. I stared at Sandfur, seeing the pain in his eyes.

" _Never_ lose that bond," Sandfur continued, his voice becoming rough. "Although you both live in very different worlds, you will never forget one another. There are so many apologies I could give to all of you, but I can't say them all. My time is approaching"… He put his head down and began to lay still. Slowly, the cream-colored tom began to fade away. I stared in horror as his body became invisible, non-existent.

"I" – Flamepaw stared at the tom, looking very stricken. He was about to say something, but then we heard a growl behind us.

"What – just – happened?"

We turned to see Flowerstar, who was huffing as she tried to pull herself up from the floor. She looked extremely exhausted, completely deprived of energy. Suddenly, her eyes dilated in fear as she saw all of us standing in front of her, glaring.

"This is it, Flowerstar," said Waterkit, stepping forward. "This is where your crimes are punished, where justice will be served. Right now, right here."

The once-proud leader backed away, trembling as she stared out at us. "It doesn't have to end this way"… she pleaded.

Turtlepaw smirked. "I am _really_ looking forward to seeing this."

Swanpaw and Flamepaw walked forward, unsheathing their claws. Swanpaw leapt out at Flowerstar, knocking her to the ground and clawing her pelt. Flamepaw stood forward, bent down to Flowerstar's neck, and leaned over, snapping it with a clean bite.

Flowerstar slowly began to fade away, her pelt dissolving into a cloud of darkness. In a matter of seconds, the proud, glossy-furred leader had faded away into a dark haze, gone forever, never to trouble the Clans again.

We stared at the dark cloud, then at each other. It had been a long day, filled with fighting and perils. But it was time to end. Although still pierced by the loss of Sandfur, and the shock of his sacrifice, I felt a wave of triumph at defeating Flowerstar.

"Come on," said Whitepaw, speaking up for the first time. "It's time to go home."

* * *

 **So Flowerstar is dead! Is everyone happy about that? I definitely am. Now she's at least out of the picture. Or is she?**


	44. Chapter 40: The Aftermath

**I forgot to say this before, but happy Friday the 13** **th** **! Anyone been pranked yet?**

* * *

CHAPTER 40: THE AFTERMATH

 _Two moons later_

Whitepaw's POV

The RiverClan camp was finally restored to its former glory. The nursery was standing again, the elders' den was rebuilt, and the medicine den was restocked with herbs from newleaf. The sky was red-and-orange with a gorgeous sunset, the first stars beginning to make their appearance in the sky, and a heavenly glow set over camp.

A perfect setting for a special day.

Today was the day my siblings would finally receive their warrior names. After two more moons of training, they had proved their worthiness of becoming warriors. I met them in the clearing, chatting excitedly as they groomed their fur, getting ready for the ceremony.

"I can't believe we're becoming warriors so early," said Flamepaw, sounding ecstatic. "Yesterday, Carpflight told me that most apprentices get their warrior names only at the age of twelve moons. We're barely ten moons old, and we're becoming warriors!"

"Well, I should think any cat who can survive all those catnappings and tunnel-collapsings deserves to become a warrior," Swanpaw told Flamepaw. He blushed slightly and looked down at his paws.

I remembered back two moons ago. Everything had been a mad rush back then. After defeating Flowerstar, we had rushed back out of the tunnels. Hollyleaf had been waiting for us and took Waterkit and Eaglekit back to StarClan. The rest of us had returned to RiverClan camp, where we'd been hailed as heroes.

"That's not that awesome," he replied modestly, looking up at me. "You're becoming a full medicine cat in a half-moon. It takes medicine apprentices even longer to get their names than regular apprentices, but you're going to be one soon!"

I blushed even harder than Flamepaw. After I had passed my final herb exam, Bluemist had promised me I would be a full medicine cat by the half-moon, only a few days from now. He also informed me that I was one of the youngest medicine apprentices to finish training. I would have to wait until the half-moon gathering for my name, but for now, I'd officially completed training.

"Hey, how's it going?" Turtlebrook walked up to us, her eyes sparkling with happiness. She had received her warrior name the previous moon, after being mentored by Leopardheart. When we arrived back at RiverClan camp two moons ago, Sassafrasstar had accepted Turtlebrook into RiverClan, along with Hareflight, on the condition that she go through an extra moon of training to learn how to swim. Turtlebrook had immediately accepted.

"We're good," answered Waterpaw, grinning at Turtlebrook. "You excited to see our warrior ceremony?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," Turtlebrook responded.

"May all cats join around the Lakeledge for a Clan meeting!"

I whipped my head up. Sassafrasstar stood on the ledge, yowling out for everyone to hear. Cats all came out of their dens, all eager to see the warrior ceremony. I saw Sweetsong and Hareflight looking at my siblings, beaming with delight.

I wondered what their warrior names would be. I knew Sassafrasstar would have something good planned for them; we were her kits after all.

"We are gathered here to see three apprentices being made into warriors," Sassafrasstar called out. Her eyes were sparkling; I could tell she was just as excited as we were. Flamepaw, Swanpaw, and Waterpaw trotted to the center of the clearing, looking up at Sassafrasstar. Flamepaw had a cheeky grin on his face as he looked up at his mother, and Swanpaw smiled once at Goldensun, her mentor. Waterpaw glanced over at Turtlebrook, who nodded at him encouragingly.

"Carpflight, Goldensun, and Silvermoon, are you confident that your apprentices are ready to become warriors?" Sassafrasstar looked down at the three mentors, who exchanged a smile.

"Flamepaw is definitely ready," Carpflight meowed. "There is no further training I could give him."

"Swanpaw has definitely progressed far from her first day as an apprentice," Goldensun said slyly, looking at his apprentice. That got a few chuckles, and I blushed, remembering the unfortunate incident where I'd caused her to spend a day in the medicine den. "I can honestly say it was a pleasure to teach her." Spottedsky, who had been Swanpaw's mentor for a while, beamed with pride.

"And I could not be more proud of Waterpaw," Silvermoon added.

"Very well then," Sassafrasstar said, looking at the three of them. "I, Sassafrasstar, leader of RiverClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down upon these apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as warriors in their turn. Flamepaw, Swanpaw, and Waterpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"We do," Flamepaw, Swanpaw, and Waterpaw said in unison.

"Then by the power given to me by StarClan as Clan leader, I present you your warrior names. Flamepaw," she motioned to the black-and-gold tom. He raced up the Lakeledge excitedly, amber eyes gleaming.

"Flamepaw, from this moment on, you shall be known as" – she paused for a moment, before continuing – "Flameheart. StarClan honors your independence and loyalty, and we welcome you as a full member of RiverClan. Serve your Clan well."

Flameheart grinned even wider as Sassafrasstar rested a claw on his shoulder.

"Swanpaw." Jerking her head upward at her name being called, Swanpaw climbed the Lakeledge. Her movements were graceful and dainty, like a swan's, and she had a fierce, proud look on her face. Sassafrasstar was waiting for her patiently.

"Swanpaw, from this moment on, you shall be known as Swanwing. StarClan honors your courage and honesty, and we welcome you as a full member of RiverClan. Serve your Clan well."

Looking excited, Swanwing continued back down the ledge, sitting next to her brother Flameheart. All we had to do was wait for Waterpaw's name.

"And Waterpaw." Waterpaw looked up at her, seeming hesitant but climbed the Lakeledge anyways.

"Waterpaw," Sassafrasstar said, looking down at her youngest son, "from this moment on, you shall be known as Watersplash. StarClan honors your intelligence and determination, and we welcome you as a full member of RiverClan. Serve your Clan well." She again laid her claw to rest on his shoulder, and he waited for her to remove it. Then he walked down the Lakeledge, joining his siblings as the cry went up.

"Flameheart! Swanwing! Watersplash!" the Clan cheered. I joined in the chanting as well, making sure my voice was the loudest. My siblings looked at each other, grinning.

"By Clan tradition, you will sit vigil and guard the camp when night falls," Sassafrasstar added as the cheering came to a halt. "At sunrise, your former mentors will lead you to a spot in the warriors' den."

"Yay! We're off guard duty!" I heard Sweetsong say to Hareflight. I huffed in amusement.

The ceremony ended, and the cats went to their dens, seeing that night was about to fall. I went to my nest in the medicine den, closing my eyes as soon as my head touched the moss. All in all, it had been a good day.

Since our adventure in the tunnels, things have been going okay. Waterkit visited me in a dream once, saying that the Nightmare Den in the Dark Forest has been fully closed off and inspected by StarClan warriors. Neither Sandfur nor Flowerstar had survived fading. Featherheart and Orangefoot had been banished to the Dark Forest permanently, and StarClan sent a few warriors to guard them and make sure they didn't try anything like this again. Since Flowerstar's soul had faded away completely, she was no longer a threat.

Even though things have been going well, there was still something that haunted me. I still remember every line of the prophecy Hollyleaf gave me…

 _'Thunder will turn the world into chaos.'_

The meaning of that line was resolved. I figured that tunnel collapsing and crazy dead cats certainly counted as chaos.

 _'One who was once a friend will resort to darkness.'_

Again, also resolved. This clearly meant Turtlebrook, who, although appearing as a friend to Watersplash, had turned out to be a traitor. This could also apply to Hareflight and Eaglekit, since both had turned to darkness for a short while.

 _'The sky will fall, and the one who is lost and found at the same time will lead the way.'_

I guess the sky had fallen. Everything had just about collapsed when Flameheart had been catnapped the second time around. And it had really been Sandfur who had saved us in the end, and he had certainly been conflicted, or as Hollyleaf had said, "lost and found".

 _'The world you once knew will be changed drastically, never to be the same again.'_

I still didn't get that one. Although we've certainly had to recover from the battle, things haven't changed too much around here. What exactly was this line referring to?

* * *

Flameheart's POV

"Flameheart! Flameheart!"

I turned around to see Sweetsong running up to me, affectionately nuzzling me on the shoulder. "Congratulations on your name!"

"Thanks," I grinned. Over the past two moons, Sweetsong and I have become much closer. We've made up, and I have finally forgiven Hareflight for his mistakes.

"You'll definitely be tired after your vigil, but at sunfall tomorrow, want to go hunting – just you and me?" Sweetsong asked.

"Sure," I said. "See you there."

Sweetsong gave me a quick lick on the shoulder. As I sat beside her, I realized that this was one day I hadn't really thought of Eaglekit at all.

Was that a good thing or a bad thing? No, it was a good thing, I decided. It showed I was finally getting over losing him.

I thought back to the time when I'd blamed Hareflight for Eaglekit's death, and felt ashamed. The more I thought about it, the more I realized Eaglekit and I were never meant to be together; it was his time to die, and that was it. I knew Eaglekit would be happy in StarClan, and I would be happy as a warrior of RiverClan. As Sandfur had said, we would still have a strong bond, but we wouldn't be dependent on each other anymore. When the time was right, I would join him among the stars.

Somehow, I didn't regret anything at all.

* * *

Swanwing's POV

"Hareflight!" I called, skidding up to the pale brown warrior. He turned around in surprise. "Swanwing? Aren't you supposed to be at your vigil?"

"Well, yes," I answered, "but only when the sun fully sets. We still have a ray of twilight left to go."

"How was your day?"

I grinned. "It was awesome. I can't wait till my vigil is over; I'll officially be a warrior by then!" I yawned. "Great StarClan, I'm feeling tired already. How am I going to stay up all night?"

"Be glad you didn't have a vigil in leaf-bare," remarked Hareflight. "I did. It was cold outside." He shuddered. "Today's quite warm, even for new-leaf. You'll have fun."

I grinned, but stopped as I remembered what I was about to say. "Hareflight, there's something I want to tell you. Well"… I stopped and looked down at my paws.

"There's actually something I wanted to tell you, too," Hareflight meowed.

I closed my eyes, mentally preparing myself to say it. I looked up into his blue eyes, and all preparation flew out the window. He stared at me, opening his mouth to speak as well. And in a rush, both of us said at the same time, "Willyoubemymate?"

For a moment, we stared at each other, confused. And then we were laughing. Laughing at the pure irony of it.

"To answer your wonderfully worded question, yes, I accept," I meowed, rolling on the ground in laughter.

Hareflight grinned. "Swanwing, you've just made me the happiest tom alive." Then he frowned. "Did that sound cheesy?"

I made a face. "You might want to work on that."

"I will," Hareflight responded. "Tonight I'll move my nest closer to yours, okay?"

"Sure," I said with a grin. I was excited at the idea of being mates with Hareflight. We understood each other perfectly now. There would be no more bullying, no more betrayal – from now on, we'd look after one another.

* * *

Hareflight's POV

I grinned as I watched Swanwing join her brothers for the vigil. Ready to sleep, I turned around and padded towards the warriors' den, picking some moss along the way.

To my surprise I saw Mistpaw and Ravenpaw in the warriors' den, already holding moss under their chins. They stared at me in surprise as I walked in.

"Oh"… I said awkwardly. "Sorry. I forgot Sassafrasstar told you two to make Flameheart, Swanwing, and Watersplash nests."

"Oh, yeah"… Ravenpaw's eyes darted around nervously.

"It's okay, you're not in trouble," I said encouragingly. "Continue what you're doing. Actually no, wait a minute. Do you mind if I do Swanwing's nest?"

"Er, no," answered Mistpaw. "If you want to."

"Thanks," I responded, taking some moss from her. I took it and carried it over next to my nest, placing it down comfortably. Of course, this didn't go unnoticed with Mistpaw and Ravenpaw; I caught a glimpse of them grinning at each other knowingly. I smiled and continued with my work.

Mistpaw and Ravenpaw had just recently gotten their apprentice names. Sassafrasstar had apprenticed Mistpaw to Sweetsong, and Ravenpaw to me. Both apprentices were very happy with the deal, after hearing how Sweetsong had rescued Flamepaw and I had defeated Luke. Sweetsong and I had been nervous, seeing how young we were as mentors, but we had accepted our roles with pride.

I knew I was going to do everything I could to guide Ravenpaw properly. As his mentor, I was going to strive hard to make learning a joyful experience for him. I would learn from the mistakes of Frostheart – and my own. Whatever happened, I always wanted Ravenpaw to feel comfortable around me, to be able to trust me like he would with one of his parents. Somehow, I knew this was the beginning of a remarkable experience as a mentor.

* * *

Sweetsong's POV

I sat with Flameheart, waiting for the sun to fully disappear under the horizon. When it did, I'd go to my nest, but for now, I wanted to spend some time with him.

As I sat, I suddenly caught a figure coming through camp. The scent was foreign, and my eyes widened. Who was it?

Swanwing, Flameheart, and Watersplash noticed it too. Swanwing growled, and glared at the intruders. "What are you doing here?" she growled.

One of the cats stared at Swanwing in amusement. "You should remember us. Don't you remember us fighting side-by-side, in the battle against the Legion?"

I stared at them. Both of them were brown-furred, and tabbies… "Clove! Talon!" I cried. "It's so good to see you again!"

"They're here?" I heard Sassafrasstar come out of her den. "What do we owe this pleasure for?" she asked.

"We decided to pay a surprise visit," Clove answered. "Things get a bit dull, sitting around all day, so we figured we'd say hi."

Sassafrasstar beamed at them. "Well then, stay as long as you'd like. Mistpaw and Ravenpaw are making Flameheart's, Swanwing's, and Watersplash's nests in the warriors' den. When they're done, I'll ask one of them to make nests for you two in the elders' den."

I shook my head. "No Sassafrasstar. Let me do it," I offered eagerly. Sassafrasstar stared at me in surprise. "Are you sure?"

"I wanted to talk with them for a bit, actually," I answered. "Catch up on some news."

Sassafrasstar nodded. "Sure."

I led Clove and Talon to the elders' den. While we were walking, I saw Ravenpaw pop his head out of the warriors' den. "What's going on?" he asked.

"Clove and Talon?" asked Mistpaw, surprised. "They're here?"

"Shh, you'll wake up the whole Clan," I laughed. "Yes, they're here. Are you and Ravenpaw done making the nests, Mistpaw?"

"Yes," Mistpaw answered.

"Then go to sleep, both of you," I told them. They nodded and bounded off to the apprentices' den.

I picked some moss from a tree outside the elders' den. Motioning for Clove and Talon to follow me, I walked into the elders' den, arranging the moss into two nice, thick nests. "Here," I said. "Is this soft enough?"

"It's perfect," purred Clove, lying down. "Thank you."

"Did you want to talk with us?" asked Talon.

"Actually, I had a few questions," I said. "I was wondering – why exactly did you help us fight the Legion? I distinctly remember you saying you hated them. But why did you hate them? What led you to help us?"

Clove and Talon exchanged a look.

"You see," Clove said, "we were born in a city – er, Twolegplace – way down south. We were born into the Legion family, and they were very cruel. Luke would always punish any cat who didn't serve him. He had an inner circle of cats: Jasper, Willie, Kettle, Soot, and a few others, who were all loyal to him. Anyone who wasn't in the inner circle was forced to serve Luke and his cronies. Our father was always trying to please Luke and get him and our family into the inner circle, but it didn't work."

"One day," Talon continued, "Clove and I decided to leave the Legion. We'd had enough of being bullied by the elite group and being forced to serve Luke. We fled the Twolegplace, looking for a new home."

"After escaping, we came over here," Clove added. "We decided to live a peaceful life in an abandoned Twoleg den. The Twolegplace south of your territory is abandoned completely, and since we were used to Twolegplaces, we decided to live there."

"Then, we heard the Legion was coming to settle in our Twolegplace," Talon continued. "Clove and I nearly had a heart attack when a Legion patrol came nearby our house, fortunately not coming in. We made plans to leave and find another home. But the night we were planning to leave, you, Whitepaw, Darkbird, and Yellowstripe came into our territory."

"So you took us in," I said with wonder.

"Yes," confirmed Clove. "We left our Twoleg den to take you to the Clans. After leading you there, we discovered the Legion was going to try and take over the lake. Talon and I decided we had to help. We wanted to defeat the Legion just as badly as you did, wanted to make them pay for treating us cruelly – as well as many other cats. And then, of course, we did."

"That's awesome," I said. "Thanks so much for helping us."

"Sure," Clove smiled. "We have now gone back to our home, without any troubles. The Legion cats no longer stay in our Twolegplace. Instead, they have gone somewhere else, leaving Talon and me free to roam the city as we please."

"I don't care where they go, as long as they don't disturb you, or the Clans," I declared.

"Same," agreed Talon. He yawned. "Well, good night, Sweetsong. I'll see you in the morning."

I nodded, leaving the elders' den.

* * *

Watersplash's POV

I left Swanwing and Flameheart to guard the entrance, while I wandered around the camp. Turtlebrook sat right under the Lakeledge, grooming her pelt.

I felt a rush of affection as I stared out at Turtlebrook. I remembered two moons before, when she'd been working with the Dark Forest cats. In a desperate attempt to stop her from doing the wrong thing, I'd gone to convince her to stay away from the Dark Forest cats.

Of course, it had worked, but I sometimes wondered if things would have ended up differently if I hadn't gone to stop her. But then I decided there was no point in thinking like that. We weren't mates – it would take a long time for us to put this behind us, and to fully trust each other again. But we were together now, and that was all that mattered.

"How are you doing?" I asked, sitting down next to her.

"I'm good," she answered contentedly. "How are you?"

"I'm so excited to be a warrior," I answered. "This means we can hang out a lot more."

Turtlebrook stiffened. "Look," she said. "You know, last night I had an important dream, and – I need to tell you."

I frowned nervously. This didn't sound very good. "What happened? Is it about the Dark Forest?" I thought we'd gotten past that moons ago.

"Yes," she said slowly. "It's about them. Last night, Flowerstar –

"Flowerstar?" I interrupted. "I thought she faded away!"

"I thought that too," she answered. "But apparently she came back. She came to me in a dream, telling me that the gap between StarClan and the Dark Forest was very unstable. She said something about being able to try and cheat the boundaries, and come back to life. And… she tried to convince me to help her."

"What did you say?" I gasped.

"I told her no," said Turtlebrook. "Of course I couldn't join with her, after everything she'd done. But just think"… She let out a sigh. "I think the chances of her being able to come here are very slim, seeing how much she, Sandfur, Orangefoot, and Featherheart depended on me for the last plan, but… anything could happen."

"The thing you said about the boundaries between the Dark Forest and StarClan being 'unstable' worries me very much," I said. "What exactly did she say?"

Turtlebrook shifted her paws uncomfortably. "That _is_ what she said."

"I need to tell Whitepaw," I declared. "I'll meet you later."

"Actually, I'll come with you," said Turtlebrook. "I think I should tell him."

"Sure," I said. We both padded towards the medicine den together, our minds a jumble of questions.

* * *

Eaglekit's POV

It had been two moons since Sandfur had faded. Two moons since our misadventure in the tunnels. To others, it seemed like ages, but to me, it felt like mere moments ago.

I thought back to when Sandfur had told me and Flamepaw to never lose our bond together. It was true; we had never lost our bond. We weren't dependent on each other anymore; I'd found my life, and he found his. But it had come at a high price.

Sandfur had faded away completely, never to exist again. It was every StarClan cat's nightmare, but normally, it didn't happen for a very long time… But to Sandfur, it happened only about two years after his death.

After his fading, I had cried a lot. I knew that if he hadn't died in the tunnels, he would certainly deserve another chance to be in StarClan. But after a while, I realized there was no point in crying. What had happened had happened, and there was no way to change the past.

The only good thing that came out of this was that Waterkit and I had been granted a full pardon upon our return to StarClan. Hollyleaf had explained the whole situation to them, and they had been surprisingly sympathetic. Midnightstar had allowed us to go back to being normal members of StarClan, with no type of punishment whatsoever. Of course, after everything we'd experienced, our lives were far from normal. Both of us knew that we would never be able to live through a day without remembering all the horrible things that'd happened that night.

As I sat in my den, thinking about all this, I heard a knock on the den walls.

"Who is it?" I asked half-heartedly.

"It's me," came Waterkit's voice. She walked in to my den, coming over and sitting beside me.

"How are you doing?"

"Fine," I answered dully.

"No, you're not fine," said Waterkit. "I can see you're still upset over what happened."

"Well, _duh_ ," I answered rather bitterly. "Wouldn't you? If someone whom you loved just faded away, for, like, _forever_ , I don't think you'd exactly be happy about it."

"It's not like you to be cynical," Waterkit meowed, sounding extremely shocked at the way I was acting.

I knew it was true. Gone was the naïve, optimistic side of me which truly believed that anything could be accomplished. No matter how optimistic I was, there were just some things in this world that could never happen. Being with Sandfur was one of them.

"I've actually got some good news," Waterkit said. "It's not all about death and destruction this time."

"What happened?" I muttered, lying down and placing my head on my paws.

"You know how we missed council-election season for a while, when we were gone to the living world?" she said. "Then after that, we never really paid attention to the elections. Well, yesterday every cat cast their votes, and I found out the results."

"Who won?" I asked.

Waterkit grinned even wider. "Hollyleaf, Jayfeather, Lionblaze, Dovewing, Purpleflower, Darkshadow, Midnightstar, Willowbranch, and… you and me."

I sat up. "You're kidding, right?" I asked. "This isn't some sort of joke."

"Nope," answered Waterkit. "None at all."

"But we didn't even run!"

"We didn't," replied Waterkit. "But even though elections aren't supposed to work that way, there's technically no rule against voting for someone who didn't run."

"Are you serious?" I gasped.

"Yes," she responded. "Of course, unless you don't _want_ your position in the council"…

"I want it!" I jumped up excitedly. "Of _course_ I want it!"

"There's the Eaglekit we all know and love," laughed Waterkit, affectionately licking my cheek. "Look, we should go now, it's time to go and accept our positions."

"Sure," I grinned, following Waterkit towards the land of Silverpelt.

* * *

 _A few days later..._

Whitepaw's POV

It was time for my medicine cat ceremony. I followed Bluemist, eager for the half-moon gathering to start.

Although I was excited to receive my name, I was also nervous. Watersplash and Turtlebrook had informed me of some things going on in StarClan, and threats from Flowerstar. Was it really possible that Flowerstar had come back? And if so, what was going to happen? I had to find out.

We sat in a clearing with the other medicine cats, waiting for Mistfur to show up. She was a little late today, but then again, she was always late, having to travel all the way around the lake to get to the Moonpool.

Finally, Mistfur arrived. "How is ShadowClan doing?" I asked.

"Well," she said brightly. "We are doing much better, even after what happened with… Darkstar." She looked down at the grass.

I knew Mistfur was still upset about Darkstar's death. But I had to say, ShadowClan seemed to be much more stable now. I personally found Larkstar to be a much more agreeable leader than Darkstar, mainly because she was less prone to making rash decisions.

"Look, the sun has almost set," called Oakleaf. "We should go now."

All of us left the clearing and padded towards the Moonpool. As the last rays of sunlight set, the mist cleared from the Moonpool. I stared at it in awe, thinking it was more beautiful than ever.

Pale white flowers were sprouting from the ground. The Moonpool itself was a gorgeous dark blue color, lit aflame by the thousands of colorful stars shining down on it. The moon was beautiful today, in fact better than I'd ever seen it, standing out brightly against the darkening sky. The wind itself seemed to whisper, frolicking over our ears and into the night.

"We are gathered here for a special ceremony," Bluemist meowed, looking at all the medicine cats. "My apprentice is ready to become a full medicine cat."

I watched expectantly as he turned to me, ready to start the ceremony.

"I, Bluemist, medicine cat of RiverClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down upon this apprentice," he began. "He has trained hard to understand the ways of a medicine cat, and with your help will serve his Clan for many moons.

"Whitepaw, do you promise to uphold the ways of a medicine cat, to stand apart from rivalry between Clan and Clan, and protect all cats equally, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do," I tried to keep my voice steady, but it trembled with excitement.

"Then by the powers of StarClan I give you your true name as a medicine cat. Whitepaw, from this moment on, you shall be known as Whitewhisper. StarClan honors your wisdom and strong connection with StarClan, and we welcome you as a full medicine cat of RiverClan."

Whitewhisper. The name was perfect. My eyes lit up in delight, and I licked Bluemist's shoulder. The other medicine cats burst into cheer.

"Whitewhisper! Whitewhisper!"

"It is now time for you to visit your warrior ancestors," Bluemist meowed, nudging me towards the moss-carpet.

I walked down the carpet, feeling the eyes of the medicine cats and the moon shining down on me, bathing my fur with white light. I stopped one moment at the edge of the pool, then reared back on my back legs, leaping down. The water began to sizzle around me, enveloping me with its warmth, then everything went dark…


	45. Allegiances 3

**ALLEGIANCES III**

* * *

RIVERCLAN

 **LEADER:**

SASSAFRASSTAR: light gray she-cat with dark gray patches, white tail-tip, and deep blue eyes.

 **DEPUTY:**

GOLDENSUN: golden-brown tabby tom with blind amber eyes.

 **MEDICINE CAT:**

BLUEMIST: pale, blue-gray tom with a white underbelly, paws, and tail-tip, and blue eyes.

WHITEWHISPER: albino, white tom with very pale blue eyes. He is much less hesitant and quicker at decision-making, and acts like a good leader under stressful situations. Son of Purpleflower and Whitestar. Aged 10 moons.

 **WARRIORS:**

LIGHTSKY: cream-colored tom with copper eyes.

*BADGERFOOT: he has a dark brown, black, and white marbled pelt. He is large and has powerful hind legs and massive paws. His eyes are dark green, and Badgerfoot has a nick in his ear.

*CARPFLIGHT: light brown tabby she-cat with green eyes and long whiskers.

SNAKESCALE: brown-and-cream tom with brown eyes.

BRIGHTLEAF: ginger she-cat with amber eyes.

VOLEWHISKER: light gray tom with green eyes.

*SPOTTEDSKY: brown tortoiseshell with light brown muzzle, chest, tail-tip, and paws.

RUSHINGWATER: gray tabby tom with copper eyes.

MOSSFOOT: greenish-brown tom with copper eyes.

DAPPLEDFLOWER: dappled gray she-cat with amber eyes.

BRIARTHORN: small dark brown she-cat with green eyes.

DUSTYFUR: light brown tom with amber eyes.

WILDWATER: black-and-white tom with orange-amber eyes, originally ThunderClan.

SILVERMOON: small, black she-cat with a white chest, tail-tip, and paws, silver and gray stripes on her pelt, and ice blue eyes.

LEOPARDHEART: dappled, pale golden she-cat with green eyes.

*BRINDLEFIRE: light brown tabby she-cat with a white underbelly and paws, and amber eyes.

TURTLEBROOK: dark ginger-and-black tortoiseshell she-cat with dark, forest-green eyes.

GREENNOSE: greenish-brown tom with green eyes.

HERONCLAW: huge, dark brown tom with amber eyes.

HAREFLIGHT: golden-brown tabby tom with white patches and blue eyes. He is much more confident now, and loyal to his Clan and friends. Foster son of Goldensun and Silvermoon. Aged 13 moons.

 _APPRENTICE, RAVENPAW_

SWEETSONG: beautiful tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat with bright blue eyes. She is much less naïve than before, and braver. Foster daughter of Goldensun and Silvermoon.

 _APPRENTICE, MISTPAW_

FLAMEHEART: gorgeous, black-and-gold tom with a white chest and orange eyes. He is much less reclusive now, although he still is independent. Son of Sandfur and Sassafrasstar. Aged 10 moons.

SWANWING: delicate, white she-cat with amber eyes. She is hot-tempered, though much better to get along with than before, and more sympathetic to other cat's feelings. But she is loyal to those whom she considers her friends. Daughter of Purpleflower and Whitestar. Aged 10 moons.

WATERSPLASH: light gray-and-white tom with sea green eyes. Similarly to Silvermoon, Waterpaw likes to disregard rules (but not to the same extent as her). He is a very cheerful cat, and loyal and honest. Son of Purpleflower and Whitestar. Aged 10 moons.

 **APPRENTICES:**

*MISTPAW: silvery-gray tabby she-kit with pale green eyes and a bushy tail.

*RAVENPAW: black-and-white tom-kit with a sleek, long, fluffy tail, one eye green, and one eye amber.

* * *

WINDCLAN

 **LEADER:**

WHITESTAR: white tom with blue eyes.

 **DEPUTY:**

*SUNSTREAK: golden she-cat with a white underbelly and tail-tip, darker golden stripes, and bright blue eyes.

 **MEDICINE CAT:**

MAPLELEAF: tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat with brown eyes.

 **WARRIORS:**

SWIFTRUNNER: black-and-white tom with copper eyes.

JAGUARFOOT: light brown tom with black spots and copper eyes.

GRAYWING: gray tom with amber eyes.

WINDFUR: dark gray she-cat with amber eyes.

MOSSYFUR: light brown she-cat with green eyes.

FIREPELT: dark ginger tom with yellow eyes.

FLAMEFOOT: black tom with orange eyes.

*DARKBIRD: fluffy black she-cat with a white chest and tail-tip with green eyes.

*YELLOWSTRIPE: yellowy-gray tom with sun-yellow eyes.

RUNNINGWIND: gray tom with amber eyes.

 **QUEENS:**

RABBITLEG: small gray she-cat with copper eyes, expecting Redlight's kits.

FLOWERSTEM: light brown she-cat with green eyes, expecting Flamefoot's kits.

 **ELDERS:**

BOULDERFOOT: black tom with amber eyes.

TIMBERFUR: light brown tabby tom with amber eyes.

* * *

THUNDERCLAN

 **LEADER:**

*CROWSTAR: strong and sleek ginger tom with brown spots.

 **DEPUTY:**

*GOLDENEAR: ginger tabby she-cat with dark amber eyes.

 **MEDICINE CAT:**

OAKLEAF: brown tabby tom with green eyes.

 **WARRIORS:**

EAGLECLAW: pale brown tom with green eyes.

HARESTEP: light gray tom with copper eyes.

MORNINGFLOWER: white she-cat with green eyes.

LIGHTLEG: cream-colored tom with amber eyes.

DOENOSE: spotted, light brown she-cat with amber eyes.

STAGLEAP: spotted, light brown tom with green eyes.

FALLINGLEAF: ginger tom with green eyes.

MEADOWGRASS: brown she-cat with copper eyes.

*REDCLAW: reddish-brown tom with blood-orange eyes.

*SQUIRRELSTEP: brown-and-white tabby she-cat.

*LIONSPIRIT: a golden tom with brown ears, paws, neck, and tail-tip. He is larger than most cats, and has bright amber eyes.

 **ELDERS:**

GRAYBREEZE: dark gray tom.

RAINWISH: light gray tom with dark gray paws and muzzle.

* * *

SHADOWCLAN

 **LEADER:**

*LARKSTAR: small she-cat with a marbled black-and-white pelt, yellow eyes, a pink nose, a fluffy tail, and long front claws.

 **DEPUTY:**

*GINGERSPIKE: ginger-and-white tabby with blue eyes.

 **MEDICINE CAT:**

PINEFUR: old gray tom with amber eyes.

MISTFUR: light gray tabby she-cat with a white chest and blue eyes.

 **WARRIORS:**

*SMOKEPELT: mottled dark gray with three white paws, a white chest, and copper eyes.

*RAINSTORM: gray tabby tom with dark green eyes and white on his muzzle, chest, underbelly, front paw, and tail-tip.

*RABBITTAIL: small tom with a thick, light brown pelt that is speckled with white and dark brown. He has amber eyes.

*SWAMPNOSE: dark brown tom with copper eyes.

ROSELEAF: pinkish-gray she-cat with brown eyes.

*ORANGEFUR: dark ginger tom with light orange eyes.

*FRONTFOOT: pale gray tabby tom with green eyes.

 **APPRENTICES:**

*CEDARPAW: small ginger tabby tom with white legs, underbelly, and chest, dark green eyes.

*FEATHERPAW: silver-and-white tabby she-cat with blue eyes.

*FOXPAW: large, broad-shouldered, ginger-and-white tabby tom with blue eyes.

* * *

STARCLAN

HOLLYLEAF: black she-cat with a red nose, leaf-green eyes, and light green starlight on her fur.

LIONBLAZE: long-haired, golden tom with orange eyes and red-orange starlight on his fur.

JAYFEATHER: gray tabby tom with blue eyes and dark blue starlight on his fur.

DOVEWING: pale gray she-cat with amber eyes and pink starlight on her fur.

PINKFLOWER: albino, white she-cat with rare magenta eyes and pink starlight on her fur.

WATERKIT: silvery-blue she-cat with big teal eyes and aqua starlight on her fur.

DARKSHADOW: dark gray tom with amber eyes and light gray starlight on his fur.

PURPLEFLOWER: albino, white she-cat with rare violet eyes and purple starlight on her fur.

MIDNIGHTSTAR: black she-cat with a white paw and dark blue eyes, and dark blue starlight on her fur.

WILLOWBRANCH: slender, light gray tabby she-cat with green eyes and olive green starlight on her fur.

EAGLEKIT: handsome, cream-colored tom with a brown underbelly and brown paws, green eyes, and olive starlight on his fur. He is much wiser and more mature now, and more ready to accept the harsh realities of life. But he still has a kit-like optimism to him. Died at 4 moons of age.

* * *

PLACE OF NO STARS

ORANGEFOOT: ginger tom with light orange eyes.

FEATHERHEART: soft-furred, silver tabby she-cat with green eyes.

* * *

CATS OUTSIDE THE CLANS

*CLOVE: thick-furred, dark brown she-cat with a white chest and underbelly. She has chestnut stripes on her pelt and amber eyes.

*TALON: huge, handsome dark brown tabby tom with thick fur, tan underbelly, chestnut stripes, and green eyes.


	46. Epilogue: A New Beginning

**And this, my readers, is the finale to TRotR. What's happening with Whitewhisper? What's going on with Flowerstar? And what are these 'big changes' that have supposedly happened? Well, we're getting into that right now.**

* * *

EPILOGUE: A NEW BEGINNING

Whitewhisper's POV

All around me, the only thing I could see was white. The pure whiteness of the space frightened me.

Then I saw stars shining in the distance. But the stars were not ordinary stars. They were all shades of black and white, dully lighting the sky.

Where exactly was I?

As far as I could tell, there was no ground below my paws. I was just standing in pure space. I could move, but when I moved, nothing changed. No matter how far I walked, the stars stayed as distant as ever, and it was almost as if I were moving in place.

I snapped my attention to a green star in the distance that suddenly seemed to be getting larger and closer. As it grew, I realized it actually wasn't a star, but it was a cat. A StarClan cat, to be exact. The light green faded away and I saw a black-furred she-cat standing in its place…

"Hollyleaf!" I yowled in delight, running up to her. "It's so good to see you again!"

"It's good to see you too," she meowed happily. "Congratulations on becoming a full medicine cat, Whitewhisper. I don't believe I've seen you in a while."

I grew silent; I knew she was referring to the Dark Forest rebellion that happened two moons ago. "I remember," I said quietly.

"Things are strange in StarClan," Hollyleaf noted. "The connection between the living and dead is always and has always been a mystery. We still don't fully understand how Sandfur managed to build the Nightmare Den, and we probably never will."

"How do you not know?" I asked, shocked. "You're _StarClan_! If you don't understand, then how" –

"Life is full of secrets," Hollyleaf cut me off. "We're StarClan, but let me be the first to tell you that we don't know everything. It may be surprising for you, but we're not a group of godly warrior ancestors, all-knowing." She looked down at me. "The prophecies we receive? When we receive them, we actually do not know what they mean. We receive dreams like you do, and our job is to simply pass the prophecy or omen to a medicine cat, so they can figure it out. That is all."

I stared at her, openmouthed. "But… I"…

"Whitewhisper," Hollyleaf settled down beside me. "This just goes to prove that everything doesn't happen the way we expect. Things don't always happen the way we would like them, and for good reason, too. If we knew everything, we would just pass down all of our knowledge to the Clans, and you would be all-knowing too, wouldn't you? But that's not the point of life. The point of life is to learn, to have a mixture of successes and failures. Always remember that."

I nodded; there was a very long pause. We sat silently for a moment, with our own thoughts.

Then I heard a noise behind me. I turned around to see two more cats joining us. They were…

"Waterkit! Eaglekit!" I squealed in delight. "You're here!"

"So we are," said Eaglekit, grinning. "Hey, Whitewhisper. Tell Flameheart I said hi." He touched his tiny nose to mine.

"How are things going in StarClan?" I asked them.

"Actually, good," said Waterkit. "Better than they have in many moons."

"So, what's been happening?" I asked. "I heard from Turtlebrook that some things happened in StarClan. She said that Flowerstar visited her in a dream and was planning to come back to the Clans. So, what happened? Why are all of these things happening?"

The three StarClan cats stared at me uncomfortably. "You see, that is actually what we were sent to talk to you about," Waterkit meowed.

"Other StarClan cats are telling the other medicine cats this, as we speak," Eaglekit added. "We're here to tell you about what's been going on in StarClan right now, ever since the battle."

I stared at them intently, wondering what was going on in StarClan. I knew big changes were supposed to be happening – was this it?

"You see," Waterkit meowed, "after returning to StarClan, Eaglekit and I were not punished, because we had gone to the living world to stop the rebellion. Sandfur and Flowerstar, as you know, faded away, but we got back just in time to see StarClan banishing Featherheart and Orangefoot the Dark Forest again."

"They sent Lionblaze, Dovewing, and Jayfeather to go to the Nightmare Den and destroy it," added Hollyleaf. "They were unable to demolish it, but instead sealed it up, so that no cat could get in and use to wreak havoc. They also made a much stronger border between StarClan and the Dark Forest, so that no one could cross. The StarClan cats we know were perfectly happy for the border to be built.

"For a while, there was peace in StarClan, and no trouble from the Dark Forest. But then, we had some more problems."

"The Nightmare Den was malfunctioning," Waterkit meowed. "It had been unstable to begin with, and without being used for a while, it went even crazier. The den had some weird powers that caused Flowerstar and Sandfur to come back, even after fading. That's why Turtlebrook saw Flowerstar in a dream – she must have visited Turtlebrook through the Nightmare Den. A few days ago – yes, this literally happened just now – the Nightmare Den blew up, destroying the Place of No Stars along with it."

I gasped. " _Demolished_ the Dark Forest?" My voice came out as a high-pitched squeak.

"Yes," Eaglekit answered. "The Dark Forest cats were blasted off into StarClan. I don't know how the border didn't hold them back, but somehow, they made it here. Since then, there was utter chaos in StarClan, as the Dark Forest cats were right in our home territory."

"But the cats in StarClan that were most afraid were the council," meowed Waterkit. "They didn't know why this was happening; the only thing they knew was that they were powerless to stop it. And for once, cats started to mistrust the council. There was chaos not only from the Dark Forest cats, but within StarClan itself."

"It was almost like an internal war." said Hollyleaf. "Since the council had kept its cats in the dark for so long, the cats of StarClan were completely lost. They were angry with the council for not preventing this disaster, even though nothing could have been done to prevent it. Many StarClan cats were tired of the council, and wanted their reign to end. They were sick of not having a say in important decisions like this. The council then stepped down and left the other StarClan cats to deal with the problem themselves."

"And this is where Waterkit and I come in," added Eaglekit.

"Just two days ago, Eaglekit and I were sitting together and discussing a solution for the problems," Waterkit meowed. "We decided that we should go around and ask other cats in StarClan their feelings on what was happening. The truth is, many StarClan cats were terrified because they didn't know what was happening. Like I said, they've always depended on the council to fix their problems, and now that they're gone, they didn't know what to do. But Eaglekit and I have been outside of StarClan before, so we know how to make decisions on our own." She nodded at the brown-and-cream tom to continue speaking.

"But the most important cats we spoke to were actually Sandfur and Featherheart," said Eaglekit. "After speaking to them, we found out from Featherheart that one of the reasons why she rebelled was because of StarClan's stiflingly goody-goody paradise, and the cluelessness of the cats who were there. Sandfur said that he wanted a second chance in StarClan, and wished StarClan would stop labeling cats as good or bad."

"The two of them came up to me," said Hollyleaf, "and we ran our ideas by the cats of StarClan. We told them that we didn't want things to be this way anymore. We wanted a better council, one which the cats of StarClan cat actively take part in, and most importantly, a place for the Dark Forest cats."

"So you built a new Dark Forest for them?" I asked.

Waterkit shook her head. "Quite the opposite. We let them into StarClan."

I gaped at her. "You _what_?"

"After all these moons, we discovered an error in our system," meowed Eaglekit. "No cat is purely evil or purely good, as you must have seen by now. Every cat starts out good, but somewhere along the line, they lose their innocence and become twisted by the ways of the world. If we just send cats whom we label as "evil" into the Dark Forest, they will then feel shunned, and act out in anger."

"But you're just letting cats like Flowerstar and Orangefoot roam StarClan," I exclaimed. "They could just as easily act out on their anger in StarClan!"

"That's what everyone thought at first," Waterkit meowed. "But we passed a new rule in StarClan, sending these Dark Forest cats in for counseling. We believe that if we let them realize for themselves the mistakes they made, they'll learn."

"Willowbranch is counseling Flowerstar, Purpleflower is counseling Orangefoot, Darkshadow is counseling Featherheart, and Eaglekit and Waterkit are counseling Sandfur," meowed Hollyleaf.

"Have they made any progress?" I asked, rather skeptically.

"Actually, all of them have," said Hollyleaf. "I know it may be hard for you to understand, but it's much better for all of us if it's this way. If we just label all these misunderstood cats as evil, they will most certainly be evil. No one's excusing what they did in their past life, but if we correct the wrong they did, we can all finally understand each other."

"I understand," I meowed, finally understanding what she was getting at. It certainly wasn't the perfect solution – there was no such thing as a perfect solution – but it was better than using force to try to suppress revolutions.

As we stood there, thinking, the stars began to shine on us, and a new prophecy could be heard among the skies:

 _Thunder will shake the Clans to its roots_

 _And crush its foes underfoot._

 _The sins of the mother are the sins of the daughter_

 _And will continue from the next generation to the other._

 _Will the battle go on? or will it end?_

 _Do we have to put up with this meaningless bloodshed?_

 _How many more days_

 _'Till the lake will run red?_

 _Whatever the outcome, whatever the end,_

 _Nothing will ever be the same again._

 _Tomorrow could be stormy, or bleak, or hopeless,_

 _It could end in shame and tragedy…_

 _…_ _Or it could just shine like a rainbow._

The white sky above me burst into color. I scanned the heavens, seeing the world me no longer as black-and-white, but as a rainbow filled with diversity.

 _It's time for the new era_ , I thought. _A new beginning awaits us._

* * *

 **So that's the ending of TRotR. What did you think? Loved it? Hated it? Were you glad that StarClan is changing their system? Or did you think that Flowerstar, Featherheart and the others got away with what they did way too easily? I'll leave up to you to decide.**

 **I think, for all that happened and how much time it took for me to publish it, TRotR came out very well. It's not perfect, but then again, no story truly is.**

 **Thank you to all of you who reviewed and made my life much easier. It's hard to think back to those days when I published TMotM, and for ten chapters, it was sitting there without a single review. Yeah. No reviews at all. But now, here I am, with 129 reviews, 2,139 views, and 6 favorites. Thank you for those of you who supported this story.**


	47. Author's Note 2

AUTHOR'S NOTE 2

 **Hey guys! This isn't an actual chapter of course, just an a/n. Before I start with my announcement, I'd just like to use this space to acknowledge Snowfall16, my beta. She has been betaing for me ever since March, and has been extremely helpful in correcting my consistency mistakes and has even helped to suggest a few plot points. While you're at it, go check out her story** ** _Take FLIGHT_** **, it's awesome. (Sorry if I'm embarrassing you Snowy)**

 **And also, while I'm here, I have some fun facts about TMotM and TRotR, which I wanted to share!**

 **\- Silvermoon's name was originally going to be Silverstone, and Bluemist's name was going to be Bluefrost (based off of the false prophecy Darkshadow gave Goldensun in TMotM).**

 **\- I wrote the prologue of TMotM and the first chapter during Spanish class. XD**

 **\- In my first draft of TRotR, Flameheart was Sassafrasstar's apprentice. Yeah. Talk about awkward. It was supposed to build on their relationship and make them become close, but it didn't turn out too well, so I had to scrap it. Come to think of it, there were a lot of really bad plot points I had to scrap in this story.**

 **\- I never intended for Featherheart to be evil, she was just supposed to die and disappear from the plot.**

 **\- Whitewhisper had a slight crush on Sweetsong when he was an apprentice!**

 **\- Frostheart is actually based off of my really annoying 8** **th** **grade science teacher. (I literally spent hours serving detentions for her. She was this really nasty woman who would always assert her power and punish us for every slight infraction of the rules.) Remember what Frostheart told Swanpaw in chapter 25:** ** _"If I, or any other adult, tell you to do something, you just do it. You don't question it; you do as you're told."_** **That's actually a direct quote from my teacher, exactly what she told me about a year ago.**

 **\- Whitewhisper has a form of albinism. (Meaning he has all-white fur and pink skin). It's a rare trait in cats, but for Whitewhisper, it's actually a family thing. His mother, Purpleflower, is an albino she-cat with violet eyes, and Sandfur's mother, Pinkflower (they're related as cousins or something), has pink eyes. (Albino cats can have pink, violet, or very pale blue eyes).**

 **\- Sandfur, Flowerstar, Featherheart, and Orangefoot have not made any more revenge plans since the events in the tunnels, despite Flowerstar's secret attempt to get to the living world in chapter 40. (Which also failed, by the way.) They are definitely on their way to becoming better cats, but will probably always be second-class citizens of StarClan, since no cat will ever fully trust them after all they've done.**

 **So what's next? What am I going to work on now that TRotR is done? I actually don't have a clue. And I have to say, it feels good. After over a year of working on TRotR (not that I didn't have fun with it though), it sort of feels good not to be forced to work on anything. I do have a few ideas, though as nothing is definite, I can make no promises.**

 **I'm still going to be active on this site, though. I have to finish GSC (geez I haven't updated that in a while). Then I'm going to continue updating WCFA, and maybe even write rants for another fandom. And I'm learning how to read and write in Spanish currently, so I plan to write some short stories in Spanish and post them here. And then there's a bunch of side projects I have in mind… Yeah, I think I'm all set now.**

 **I guess I'll see all of you around in a few weeks or so, when I get around to doing those things! Bye, and hope you found those fun facts interesting!**

 **~ilovewarriorcats123**


End file.
